Blend of elements

There is a certain mystery and charm about the paintings of SV Rama Rao, that you cannot just look at it once and move on to the other. Sometimes a river becomes a bird while in other times it becomes a ball of fire. Every time you look at a painting, your imagination will find a different picture. Rama Rao is a lover of music and lets his canvas speak about how much he is inspired ny nature. Most of his paintings depict lush green meadows, fluffy clouds, snow-capped mountains and the endless sky. He told us that he visualises his paintings as if he is gazing down at the earth from the sky. “The soothing sight of water or jal from the sky is remarkable, as I see from my spiritual eyes. Water is a life-giving element and we need to respect and value it — be it an ocean, river, pond or sea — it is the elixir of life,” he added.

His ongoing solo show titled Tribute to a living Master was inaugurated by South Asian University (SAU) in association with Art life Gallery at the institute campus. It features some of his best abstract works with bold strokes of bright colours. The artist pointed out to a painting which was totally washed with only tinges of colour. He then explained the thought and the philosophy that went into the canvas. “It is from sea or river, water evaporates to be in the sky as cloud then again in the shape of rain it comes back to earth,” he said and added the fact that he has never used white. He explained that it was a way of controlling the paper. 

“When the Persian blue and the crimson lake colours combine, it gives the feeling of golden clouds during sunset. As ideas emerge and flow in mid-air, the ideas from my imagination emerge and pour into the canvas. I look at the vastness of this earth and I feel like an astronaut who looks at the hidden mystery of the world,” said the 79 year old artist.  A prominent element in his paintings was, air or vayu. “Air has two levels as in breathe in and breathe out. We feel the storm, the breeze but the air at atomic level remains around us eternally,” pointed out the artist explaining the sudden flow and calm in his works.

Fire is an element that plays a prominent role in his works. “Again, it has eternal and perishable elements. The essential character of fire is to generate heat. According to Hindu mythology, Agni is one of the eight guardians who guards our universe known as Dik Palakas. It is important that we see the little flames spread across in the works,” he told us.