A Japanese artist Tomoyo Ihaya would showcase her drawings and paintings before the art lovers of the city. Her paintings would be exhibited at Rangdarshini Gallery Bharat Bhavan from Tuesday.
Drawings from Dharamsala, which were made between September 2012 to January 2013 mainly in Dharamsala will be shown in the exhibition.These particular drawings are dedicated to Tibetan people who sacrificed their lives for freedom and peace in their motherland and for their people.
According to Tomoyo Ihaya, “In my last visit to India in the spring of 2012, I encountered the Tibetan community in exile in India experiencing painful news of their people self-immolating in fire one after another in China-occupied Tibet. My experiences in the past visits in India (drawing a cremation site in Varanasi, documenting fire pits, cremation alters, and contemplating on life and death around fire) synchronised with this particular movement, an extreme way of ‘offering’ their bodies to ‘fire’ for asking freedom and peace. I could not help drawing large and small drawings as emotional response and with a sense of mourning.”
Further she said, “After coming back to Vancouver, the self-immolation kept happening and I felt that my personal and professional task is not finished. I have come back to India to continue to document and draw under the same theme.”
The artist, Tomoya Ihaya, after studying Fine Arts in Canada and travelling around the world through international artist-in-residency programmes has exhibited nationally and internationally. Known for her seemingly simple imagery, underplaying complex psychological, political, and spiritual messages, Ihaya has received numerous awards including project grants from the Canada Council for the Arts.
The exhibition is being organised under Rupabh series of fine arts, Bharat Bhavan and would continue till September 29.