Portraits of Kollywood actors Vijay and Ajeeth shared space on the soft board with painted images of Paul Walker, the Buddha and Swami Vivekananda. There were also portraitures of the college principal, freeze frames of Professors hung alongside. Not just that, but dreamy sceneries, vivid still-life paintings, art from waste, paper art, decal effect and Zentangle paintings, pencil and charcoal sketches and 3D models and life size experiential artworks put up by engineering and architecture students of Thiagarajar College of Engineering added variety and colour to the expo besides enthralling the onlookers.
Organized by Shrishti, the cultural association of TCE, over 30 students from various disciplines took part in the event conducted for the second consecutive year. Young collegians surprised the professors with their spontaneous and innovative creations.
Contrary to the commonly perceived idea of an engineering college, the art expo lent an opportunity for students to exhibit their hidden talents. “It’s important to nurture their abilities and give them a chance to grow into holistic individuals,” says Dr. R. Vasudevan, Dean, Extracurricular Activities, TCE. “We intend to make the art show a regular feature every semester so that students can sharpen their extra skills.”
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A. Tamil Selvi, Associate Professor, English Department, says, “Events like these help to channelize the energy of young students. In a wifi enabled modern campus, they can only be seen hooked on to their mobile phones otherwise. The art show kept them creatively engaged and many were keen to exhibit their work.
Students of Architecture and Engineering were more than happy to display their works. Karthega S., who chose to sketch her Physics Professor, says, “He is my favourite teacher as he is very friendly with students. I sketched his portrait by seeing his Facebook profile picture.” The professor Dr. M. Mahendran was on cloud nine to see his painted image. “I feel gratified that my students hold me in such regard,” he beams. S. Rithika, a civil engineering student had painted an image of the principal in the art show conducted last semester. “I wanted to draw something from the immediate surroundings and while the principal gave a talk at the assembly, I sketched him standing at the podium,” she says.
Among many such thought provoking, realistic and colourful art works, the 3D models made by O. Sethupathi, a student of Architecture stole the limelight. The young boy invested 10 days in making models of the Eiffel Tower and London Bridge. Made with nearly 3,000 toothpicks, the Eiffel Tower stands 36.9 inches from the ground with a square base measuring 14X14 inches. “I made the model with a picture of the tower for reference. It was a challenge to use only toothpicks as I haven’t used any other material to set up the base,” says O. Sethupathi, whose loves art since childhood. The art classes he undertook during summer holidays in school helped him, he says. “The Eiffel tower was made in three parts and stuck together. There were many challenging moments as the toothpicks would break and snap and I had to rebuild from scratch.” He glued the sticks and soaked them in water to bend them.
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A similar model of the London Bridge measures 24 inches in length, 15 inches in height and was made using approximately 1,000 toothpicks. “I plan to create a 10-feet model of a bridge with ice cream sticks. I want to enter the Guinness Book of Records some day,” says the boy who is also an expert in carving sculptures out of chalk pieces.