‘Women are like Koi fish, capable of swimming against the tide’ reads the caption on a Shashi Tripathi painting.
Shashi showcased a 17-painting collection titled ‘Humane’ that depicted real and imaginary stories and emotions. She has used birds and trees to represent complex human thoughts.
“When I had to show the strength of negative thoughts that grip the human mind, I painted an eagle because it is a bird known for its power. However, I turned to entwined pipelines when I had to portray the complexity of human thoughts,” she explains.
Shashi gave up her job in fashion designing to pursue painting. “Painting was always a part of my life. However, earlier it was just a way to de-stress and I did not take it much seriously,” she says. It was only after 2012 that she started working as a full-time artist and trained under eminent artists, Rameshwar Broota and Sanjay Roy at Triveni Kala Sangam in New Delhi.
- Group show titled ‘Femme Fiesta’ at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi, 2015
- Group exhibition called Nayika at Officers Club, Airport Authority of India, New Delhi, 2016
- Group exhibition at Bharat Bhawan Bhopal, 2016
- ‘Municipal Council New Delhi Art Mart’, a group exhibition at Janpath Subway Connaught Place, New Delhi, 2017
- ‘Colour on Canvas 2018’, group exhibition at Studio55 Gallery, New Delhi, 2018
Deviating from her usual medium of oil on canvas, Shashi is now experimenting with mixed media on paper. “ I am working on aerial views of landscapes, larger perspective of thingsfascinate me.” There is a painting of an aerial view of Visakhapatnam’s coastline, port and the Dolphin’s Nose.
While there was much scepticism about her showing her paintings in Visakhapatnam, Shashi says she is overwhelmed by the reception to her work. “The response to the exhibition has been phenomenal. The only piece of advice that I have for the younger artist is to follow their passion. When you follow your calling, the audience will definitely follow.”
