Brown, earthy colours and shades that tell the rustic tales of village life make up the subject matter of A. Chokkalingam i.e., Chokki's paintings. They are displayed at Dream Colours II, an ongoing painting exhibition at the Kasturi Sreenivasan Art Gallery. “Around dusk everyday, I see a woman squatting outside my house with her two goats close by”, says Chokkalingam. It is the unique colour scheme that brings this scene to life. Grazing cows, bullock carts and women carrying clay pots, all find a place in his works.
A close look and you realise there are many triangles in his art. He says he creates his forms from these triangles. The triangles are manifest in every minute detail as tiny as the eye of an ox, a human face or even the soiled veshti of a farmer. “I love working with triangles,” says this art teacher who works at the Kadri Mills Hr. Secondary School in Ondipudur.
A follower of Buddha's teachings, Chokki's three renditions of the Buddha from different angles, done in charcoal with an embossed effect, are iridescent, yet soothing.
Chokki, who hails from Thanjavur, fondly remembers picking fresh lilies from the pond as a young boy.
One of the few realistic paintings in his collection shows a young boy holding a bunch of fresh lilies. The joy on the child's face is a winner.
“Colour balance is the greatest key to abstract art,” says Chokki. A fiery red background, clearly representative of the setting sun, perfectly merges with the white of the ox. “The shades of pink in the ox balance the red in the backdrop of the scene,” he points out.
A painting that Chokki calls “Where do we go?” shows birds flying off in different directions and nests falling off as a tree is cut down.
Chokki's series of three paintings with a herdsman is breathtaking, with the lonely woods and the bright golden hues of the setting sun. The story is of a herdsman in search of his goats that have wandered off. He finally finds them at the end of a long winding meandering pathway. The simple village life of his childhood days has always been Chokki's inspiration.
Vivid Palette is on at Kasturi Sreenivasan Trust, Avanashi Road. The exhibition will go on till September 25. The timings are between 9.30 a.m. and 6.30 p.m.
For details, call 0422-2574110.
