As many as 25 artists came together for a two-day workshop organised by State Gallery of Fine Arts under the leadership of Sivanagi Reddy, Director recently. “The quality of work and the display of professionalism by such young women is astounding. They all had ideas to contribute, and made art their medium to communicate,” says Ramani Mylavarapu who also presented a collage titled ‘All roads lead to ...’ through which she highlighted her concern about the lack of safety of women after the Nirbhaya incident, and after a woman was raped in a car near Inorbit mall in Hyderabad.
Another of her works depicted a girl wearing a black belt, in a defensive pose suggesting that girls should be trained in self defence in schools. In the background to the left there were software companies in the abstract, and to right, ‘Jhansi ki Rani’ subtly depicts inspiration.
Another painter Anjali Das, who hails from a village in Ongole, likes to paint Indian culture. One painting that stood out was three women in black and white, one involved with the Sankranti festivity rituals, the other two gossiping. She works with oil and water colours. Her dream career is to be an art teacher where she can teach children about Indian culture and traditions.
Also featuring her works was K.V. Nagamani from Kukatpally. She started painting after her schooling and later, pursued her degree in Fine Arts from JNAFAU. One of her most talked about paintings is titled ‘Wedding Celebrations’ in Telangana.
One of her most beautiful works was a tribal woman with a large vessel on her head, belonging to the East/West Godavari belt.
Saakshi Sharma, a painter from childhood, gave a more formal touch to her passion by obtaining a Bachelor’s degree at JNAFAU. She now spreads her love for art, by holding evening classes at her residence and also teaching art at St. Francis School, her alma mater. “Colours liberate me, especially when I get to watch them play out on canvas,” she says.
She feels that being able to portray an emotion or a series of events on canvas is a way of communicating. “When I am done with the painting, I need to hear it speak to me. Only then I know it is complete.”
So far she has done two series of works. One is a collection titled liberation, and the other, contrasting harmony, dreams and perfect imperfection.
Calcutta is known for its cultural learning and contribution to the art vista in the country. To give exposure to A.P., a set of miniature paintings from Calcutta were brought and presented to the audience.
The display was a feast for the eyes, especially a few paintings that were of great calibre. The whole exhibition was called Miniature 101, which was first exhibited at Chemould Art Gallery, Kolkata last year.
This exhibition asks the painters to express their thoughts in a very small two dimensional format, almost as if to say ‘Small is beautiful.’
