Artist Sarla Chandra's works reflect her love for Nature and trees

Septuagenarian artist Sarla Chandra celebrates the energy-giving tree of life in her works

June 29, 2019 02:11 pm | Updated July 12, 2019 05:34 pm IST

Artist Sarla Chandra at Kalakriti Art Gallery

Artist Sarla Chandra at Kalakriti Art Gallery

The cacophony of traffic fades into serene calmness as one checks out artist Sarla Chandra’s works. Displayed at Kalakriti Art Gallery, the exhibition ‘Ashwatha - The Sacred Tree’ depicted artist’s love for Nature and trees. She has discovered her love for art in Hyderabad and has experimented with varied mediums, themes and techniques. “Since I was not from an art college, I was not bound by anything. My spirit was free to seek, find and experiment through art,” she says.

With a post-graduate degree in entomology, Sarla was newly-married when she came to Hyderabad in the late ’60s. “We came here with four suitcases and two

Visitors look at the works at an exhibition

Visitors look at the works at an exhibition

daughters; My husband was the director of Administrative Staff College of India; I started my career in art from nothing to something in Hyderabad.” The family lived in the city till 1990 before shifting to Delhi where she pursued art diligently. “It feels amazing to come to Hyderabad for an exhibition. I went to Public Gardens with my brother to rekindle memories. We used to go there with our little children.”

Nature bridged the gap between science and art as Sarla celebrates trees in her works. With an interest in philosophy, she enhanced her meta-physical knowledge by reading the ancient texts and epics. “The more I read the scriptures, the more I felt close to Nature and began to interact with it. Just as a human being needs five elements, the trees and Nature around us also also need them. We are all inter-connected with a cosmic energy,” she says. The one element that stands out in her display is the way she used the etching technique on ‘varakh’ — the gold and silver foil; This idea came to her during a visit to Charminar. “Metal always fascinated me and I wondered how silver foil put in paan can be artistic,” she smiles. The artist has used the etching technique on canvas and paper too.

Tryst with spirituality

The 23 works on display emerged from her constant exploration with spirituality. “Trees have a significance all over the world. Buddha was enlightened under a Bodhi tree. Many trees have medicinal value and sustain us,” she shares. Ashwatha, an imaginative tree mentioned in the Vedas is the energy-giving tree of life. The Tree of Life reverberates with a cosmic energy as the artist explores the interaction between purush and prakrithi — man and Nature through different themes of philosophy. In some of her works, she pays tribute to Hyderabad by painting its majestic rocks in the works.

Visitors look at the works at an exhibition

Visitors look at the works at an exhibition

The 76 year-old artist’s zeal for life is incredible. “Being close to nature gives me energy. I like listening to soulful music and Sanskrit narrations,” she says and considers art as her biggest achievement. “I have four grandchildren and fulfilled all my roles while pursuing art. Many people ask me how I have been able to do so many things and I feel still there is a lot to be done.”

Sarla is now keen to focus on abstracts. “I have a desire to move to the next level and paint my themes as abstracts. It is challenging to present meta physical energy in abstracts but I will try.”

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