Ethnic details well-etched

HAILING FROM a family of artists known for their expertise in portrait painting, it is not surprising that Kavita Deuskar too has decided to uphold that tradition. She prefers to portray the common people of the Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh. The ethnicity is brought out clearly through the details of clothing, jewellery, etc. Kavita's creations on show at the Artworld (Ganeshpuram 3rd Street, Cenotaph Road, Chennai-18) reveal that she is a keen observer of their life style, their occupations and also a sense of sympathetic involvement with the community.

Not many artists take colour pencils as a medium seriously. But Kavita obviously enjoys the medium and many of her works are done with colour pencils with sensitivity. The finishing is smooth and without the trace of the pencil lines. Another of her chosen medium is pastels. Kavita has had special training in egg tempera too and there are a few paintings in that medium also.

It appears as if all the portraits are of the people from the same family! The noses seemed to have come from the same mould! While in some works like `Labourers at rest' in egg tempera, charcoal drawing `Lady with pot' and `Women II' in colour pencil the fingers are expressive and quite realistic, in some others such as `Milk Maid' in colour pencil the attention for realism has gone too far that the fingers and toes appear almost grotesque.

While the faces in straight view or three-quarters view are quite good, in profile she seems to have some problem, which is not uncommon with other artists also. The faces are quite bereft of any emotion, the eyes looking rather hollow.

Her artistic maturity is better revealed in the egg tempera work, though no fault can be found with her technique in charcoal drawing! A graduate in painting and sculpture from the College of Fine Arts & Architecture, Hyderabad, she has also had special training in murals and fresco painting under Prof. K.G. Subramanyam at the M.S. University, Baroda. She is currently the professor and head of Painting Department, College of Fine Arts, Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Hyderabad.

Kavita's show at the Artworld till August 4, is her first solo effort in Chennai.

LAKSHMI VENKATRAMAN

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