A bar cabinet with goats and bulls jumping out of it, an old trunk with a smiling sun in Madhubani art and bright red and blue fish, a stool painted in vivid colours with figurative forms and finally, a door that looks straight out of a dream. Melange, a three-day art camp at Prakrit Arts has 10 artists creating forms on furniture, canvas and more.
Senior artist G. Raman is busy using white ink to draw his kolam-like signature work. Teju Menon is turning an old stool into a colourful piece of contemporary art. “I work mainly with figurative forms and I have brought this in a modern way to emphasise these forms on the wood. It was a challenge to see if they would all fit in but it looks like they are settled,” she smiles.
Meena Dadha, director of Prakrit Arts, organised the camp that featured lesser-known artists, who experimented on different mediums. “I want more people in the city to be exposed to art. So the artists lent their creativity to functional objects to make art an integral part of people’s everyday life. Such experiments are always welcomed by artists as they help them widen their horizons,” she says.
C. Subramani from Madurai is giving the finishing touches to the eyes of a woman painted on an old steel trunk. “This is a new challenge since it’s a three-dimensional object,” says Subramani, excited about meeting artists from other cities. Kamala Ravikumar, who runs an art studio in the city, is working on her second piece. A trunk painted with bright Madhubani art is nearby. “I wanted to show people the different kinds of art forms we have in the country. It’s been quite an adventure to paint on furniture and wood,” she adds.
Through Bolgum Nagesh Goud’s door you can catch glimpses of an ethereal Rama, wearing golden earrings and necklace, which shine in the bright morning sun. Goud draws out Hanuman with a marker. “I paint characters from the epics and mythology, using the traditional leather puppets as motifs. The other side of the door will have Sita and more characters from the Ramayana. This is very intricate piece and I’m working on a large format for the first time. It’s very exciting,” he says with a smile. Srikanth from Hyderabad, who usually paints on canvas and silk, is working on a painting that features bulls and goats.
Melange’s camp ends tomorrow and the furniture will be on display at Prakrit Arts, Greenways Road Extention, R.A. Puram.
