Self-taught artist’s tribute to the masters

Canvases with thick coats of colour, often dark and chaotic. Yet, contrasted with brighter colours to paint heads, nudes and mindscapes are the trademark works on display at self-trained artist Vikash Kalra’s solo exhibition titled Tales from Soul Marrow at Art Indus Gallery.

The paintings bring to mind the iconic The Scream by Edvard Munch as well as works by F.N. Souza and Pablo Picasso who the artist admits to have been inspired by.

Vikash says he started painting in 2006 after trying his hand at various other professions. He trained himself by reading books and studying the works of great masters. He says he has developed a sort of a

guru-shishya relationship with the well-known artists, thus paid tribute to their various styles.

Talking about the title of his show, Vikash says the name was chosen as there is no particular theme that links the works nor is there a similar style of expression. The only common thread is that they have all been painted from his soul.

“I express myself by painting my surroundings, what I have observed, read about or try to bring to life important personal relationships,” he says.

In a contrast to his canvases, Vikash has put together a number of drawings as collages that explain human behaviour. Some deal with the relationship between a mother and child, while others deal with sensuality, love and sex.

His drawings, in which he has used animal heads to replace human heads, were created after reading a book titled “ Profile of a Criminal Mind ”.

Vikash says there is an animal in all of us and that he has tried to bring out the character of the people he has met by portraying them as birds and animals they resemble or remind him of.

According to the artist, he decided to do a drawing series recently as he felt his work was becoming very hectic and he wanted to take some time to relax. Drawings, he says, provided him with that opportunity.

Another theme dealt with extensively in his drawings and paintings is the relationship between mother and child that stems from a personal experience of losing his father when he was eight.

He has also created miniature versions of his oil paintings in water colour to fit into collages as well. A keen student of Mahatma Gandhi, he has dedicated some of his drawing collages to the Mahatma.

The exhibition is on till May 7 at Art Indus Gallery, Santushti Shopping Complex.