From a brave mother who fought breast cancer to environmentalist Saalumarada Thimmakka who planted and nurtured hundreds of banyan trees, women who have made a difference came to life on the canvases of 60 artists at an all-women painting exhibition that concluded here on Monday.
The artists included a six-year-old girl, an 80-year-old woman, a homemaker, a doctor and Chitram Art Institute’s students, who depicted atrocities on women, social and psychological issues they faced and their conviction to fight back. In addition to this, the life of a woman from her birth to motherhood was portrayed.
Variety of media
The exhibition,‘Chitra Mukhi’, was based on the theme - reflecting ideas and skills of women - and featured 105 works created through media like oil colours, charcoal, dry and oil pastels, and multimedia, at the Cultural Centre of Vijayawada and Amaravati.
“If you try to bind me with strings, I'll wear them as ornaments and shine,” declared the description of a striking monochrome charcoal portrait by Roja Mahitha.
Young artist N. Alekya presented six portraits in a storyboard titled - Guns and Roses, where a woman is depicted as having turned into a warrior to fight back against injustices.
“Society has crushed women with norms, bound them with ideologies. In the end, women emerge stronger to fight like a warrior,” she said, pointing at the last portrait in the series where the woman clutched a gun and a rose.
While J. Sudha, a homemaker, used acrylic colours to paint ‘Chintrangna’, 80-year-old G. Kanakadurga portrayed life of rural woman.
“A lot of hard work has been put behind by artists who’ve worked for months to bring out all aspects of a woman’s life,” said R. Prem Sudheer, director of the institute.
Mr. Sudheer said proceeds from the sale of works would be donated to kin of the Pulwama victims through PayTm.
Other paintings included ‘Gossip’ by G.V. Sirisha, ‘Elegance’ by Archana Balaji, ‘Power of Heels’ by Maha, ‘Feel the Love’ by Pranati, ‘Village Lady’ by Y.V. Ramani, ‘Fight for Time’ by Tara and ‘Expressive Woman’ by T. Dikshitha.
