At the core of the exhibition by two artists — Meeta Johar Dutta from India and Rajeshwary Priyaranjini from Bangladesh — lay nature. The duo dealt with various facets of nature in their respective paintings.
Meeta, talking about her series titled “Jungle Fables”, on at the Shanta Art Gallery, Jangpura, till January 20, said, “I used colours which are vibrant but that vibrancy is balanced by the calmness of the jungles that I bring forth.” Further explaining the work, she said, “I have painted the best of the jungles, the best of the woods. The strength we get while we are inside a jungle is also depicted in my paintings. You will see that I have tried to paint a pathway in all my paintings. If you are walking through a path in jungle with huge trees, it gives you a cool soothing feeling. By listening to the chirping of birds, the rustle of leaves, the wind blowing, the inner agitations and noises are suppressed. That’s the magic of the sounds of a jungle.” Meeta’s art practice shows a penchant for traditional methods of painting, like washes and watercolours. “I have basically used watercolours with washes in a form that it gives a printing affect, a type of mono printing. Usually, people use acrylic, charcoal or oil painting on canvas but I have used the traditional methods of paintings, i.e. paper, water and washes. The reason why I used these elements in my paintings is because the feel of the paper, the feel of the texture, and the watercolour’s shades is way better than what you get on canvases”, she explained.
From the colour palette, she chose green and blue. “I have used these colours because of their presence in nature. India has so many weathers and these colours depict the various weathers, the climatic changes along with the message of hope, peace and harmony.”
