Quest for the eternal
BHAWANI CHEERATH
|
Nakano Katsuko has spent years familiarising herself with India's heritage, and learning traditional styles of painting.
|
Photo: S. Gopakumar
PORTRAIT OF AN ARTIST AND HER ART: Nakano Katsuko with one of her murals.
"For me working on paintings is the best way to heal deeper layers of my psyche," says Nakano Katsuko. A collection of murals, glass paintings, oils and acrylics by the artist adorn the walls of the Suryakanti Gallery.
She has assimilated the traditional styles of painting by studying India and its heritage, and journeying across the vast country.
Painting murals
Impressed as she was by the quality of the mural painting in Kerala, Nakano trained at the Chitrakalamandalam in Thiruvananthapuram. The exhibits at the gallery are proof of the finesse she has achieved in the use of colour tones associated with Kerala murals.
The gods of the Hindu pantheon have been depicted in her frames, and the expression that has been captured is admirable. Often, when artists dabble in murals, the works lack the expression that endows the work with a visual appeal.
Nakano explains her ability to liven up the eyes and the face thus, "When I started with the murals, the expression was the most difficult. On every occasion the face developed a Japanese look. I had to keep working on the face for quite long to get the clarity and likeness of the traditional mural."
The works on display have been done over a two-year period. Intricate floral motifs in pastels drawn from the Persian and Mughal styles, reproduction of Ajanta murals in Indian Ink have also been handled by the artist.
Intricate designs and multiple shades in small spaces require control over strokes to acquire the exquisite beauty of the form and these seem to have been deftly handled by Nakano.
The exposure she has had of Indian miniatures and the Tanjore style began as a hobby, way back in 1991 when her early steps in Indian art began with an introduction to lacquer painting in 1991.
Following this up with training in Tanjore painting and Kerala's style of woodcarving, she moved to mural painting.
Early beginnings
Fascination for India is something she developed very early in life even before she came here as a tourist, "As a child I remember two fans made of peacock feather that my father brought from this country. This inquisitiveness was further enhanced when I touched India and lived for a short while in the Santhal Parganas in West Bengal."
Learning India is something she has been doing for the past 18 years, and now it seems she has found her destination in Kerala. Reason?
"The climate is mild. And the people also are mild," she adds. A post-graduate in quantum physics from Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto, Nakano's search is for self-expression and for answers to her quest for the eternal.
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Entertainment
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
Hyderabad
Thiruvananthapuram
