Flair for strokes

THE SURFACE of water, be it a pond or the sea, admittedly lends a calm and contemplative mood to Dimpy Menon, a post graduate student of the College of Arts & Crafts, Chennai.

Living near the sea gives her the opportunity to communicate with nature, as it were. Nature, especially water along with lotus, plays a major role in her etchings and sculptures.

As an undergraduate student in the 1980s she had concentrated on print making and now she has added metal sculptures to it, since basically she enjoys working with materials, be it the metal etching plate or wax, clay and bronze.

Many of her works have a vague autobiographical air about them; the figure of the man often might mean the self or just the human presence; similarly the oft-repeated motif of the lotus is just a flower but many a time it also symbolises the child.

Thus in one etching the figure of the man over the six-cornered star symbolises the union of the male and female and their progeny.

The colours of the dawn and dusk which she experiences near the sea, is reflected in the mild colouring of her prints, lending them an ethereal touch.

Having studied under some of the masters of line at the College, lines find efficient use in Dimpy's work.

In her bronzes too, the human form, lotus and water are the frequently used elements. But in them the man-woman relationship is the prominent theme.

There are also sculptures of a man sitting holding a lotus like a baby, or lying prone on the floor which shows off the beautiful lines and curves of the human form, as does the man standing in a kind of a dance pose.

Though small in size, these sculptures are very powerful in expressing through body language.

The oxidised metal gives a rugged look to the subjects.

Dimpy Menon's prints and sculptures are on show at the Vinyasa Art Gallery (Music Academy campus) till September 23, 11 a.m. - 7 p.m.

L.V.

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