“Fashion, style and attitude are mostly associated with people who are city-bred. Someone unaware about fashion or style by default is considered to be a ‘villager’. “Being ignorant is supposed to be a trait of the villager, isn’t it?” questions artist Thota Laxminarayana, a Nirmal painting artist. When it comes to fashion Laxminarayana says, “Things aren’t the same in villages anymore. Villages have better accessibility now.”
His studio in Sitaphalmandi is a colourful space. It is not so much the colour of paint on his walls, but the colour and brightness from his paintings that transform an otherwise dull and cluttered room into a vibrant one.
As he dispels myths about rural folk, Thota Laximnarayana is also on a mission to give fresh lease of life to the Nirmal painting art form which is otherwise identified only with calendar art work. “There isn’t anything wrong about the craft being used in calendars, but then why miss the potential of showing something so rich to the rest of the world. Besides being a prominent folk painting, Nirmal paintings also narrate the life of the people,” elaborates Laxminarayana.
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Instead of repeating what is already known and seen about Nirmal painting, Laxminarayana is bringing in a contemporary look to the art form. His idea being: ‘we need to change with time and give a fresh perspective to keep the attention on.’ How successful has he been? “The response is good. I have a lot of buyers from other states because it is a new twist to folk art and my subject on the canvases are very straightforward. I deal with a lot of topics with a subtle approach,” he says. If one observes, Laxminarayana indeed has a very modern outlook. His girls on the canvases are modern yet traditional, defying stereotypical images. What can be more apt to depict the plight of a girl who’s being deprived of her education than to show her in front of a pile of utensils to be washed, against the background of a girl who is enjoying a book.
Or a girl wearing printed leggings sitting amidst paddy to shoo birds away. Laxminarayana says, “In one of my paintings I have shown a girl busy admiring her beauty and petting a cat as she waits for the laundry to dry.”
Laxminarayana says he grew up seeing the traditional painting of Nirmal on everyone’s walls. So it was natural to have an inclination towards art. “More so, because my father was an artist. I used to paint as a child but I was mostly active with other art forms. I used to act in dramas, make paper jewellery, make clay idols and got into paintings very late. I initially learned on my own from different artists but none taught me the nuances. It was initially a struggle but then I met a person called ‘Guruji.’ Guruji is an expert in Nirmal work and I was blessed to learn a few things under him in Adilabad,” explains Laxminarayana.
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Having a father as an artist didn’t make it easy for Laxminarayana to pursue art; his father was not sure of art as a prospect to earn a decent living. “He forced me into a business. It wasn’t as good as he expected and I was constantly wanting to go back to paintings and so I finally did,” beams Laxminarayana.
Amongst his works that make a statement on the world, is the painting of a girl and boy playing ‘pahiya’.
“Running along with a tyre while rolling it with a stick is a common game in villages. Boys are often seen playing ‘pahiya.’
By showing both a girl and a boy, I want to show that nothing should stop girls,” explains Laxminarayana.