Natural not bizarre

PAINTINGS AND sculptures by four young artists, each in his/her own style and preferred medium, are being exhibited at the Vinyasa Art Gallery (Music Academy campus) till July 28, 11 a.m.- 7 p.m. M. Raja likes to paint human faces. But they are not portraits. His love of nature leads him to incorporate elements like plants, flowers, birds and animals in the depiction of faces. An eye may become part of a peacock, or the human eye may turn out to be the eye of a deer too; there may be leaves or creepers in place of hair on the head. He takes care in not making them appear bizarre.

The use of oil pastels lends an interesting texture, while the outlines are drawn with sharp white or black. When the painting is done in iols, these outlines are moulded in relief. Raja studied art in the classes being held at the Art Club at the College of Arts & Crafts, Chennai some years ago.

S. Doss and Usha Devi are alumni of the College of Arts, Kumbakonam. Doss, since young, has been interested in folk arts, as he felt that they form the cultural link to the roots of the people.

Thus all his bronze sculptures have folk dances and music as their theme. Though small in size, the fast and energetic movements are captured effectively through the poses and efficient use of distortions of the limbs.

Usha Devi has also made a few sculptures called `New Woman'; These small format pieces are lean and tall and are based on fashion parade. Her preference anyway is for oil and acrylic on canvas, in which her favourite theme is old buildings, particularly the interiors and the intensity of light.

A flight of steps inside a building is illuminated with light filtering from an unseen source. Besides old buildings of Kumbakonam, Usha Devi has also used her imagination in combining architectural features of North India, for instance, the arches she observed during study tours. Her paintings remind one of Dutch Renaissance works, in which the light from outside is allowed to play beautifully on the objects.

Anand Babu Ambarkhane is from Gulbarga and his forte is terracotta. His subjects in the sculptures are also unusual. He has made sculptures depicting folded shirts, different types of shoes, like Rajasthani slip-on, children's shoes etc. The footwear in particular appear almost real.

L.V.

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