Renuka Varma’s debut art show titled Shakhein: Another Tree, Another Sky depicts a refreshing perspective on trees and other naturescapes. By Unnati Joshi
Four years ago, she lost all her paintings to water-logging and it took her nearly three years, after the distressing experience, to pick up the paint and brush again.
Delhi-based artist Renuka Varma, a self-taught artist, is now preparing to exhibit paintings done over the last year and half in her debut solo show in the capital. Titled Shakhein: Another Tree, Another Sky, the show has been curated by Dr Alka Pande and depicts a refreshing perspective on nature and environment, especially trees, including nearly 30 paintings in oils and acrylics on canvas.
Speaking of Shakhein, Renuka reveals that she has painted trees in her more recent works while also painting majestic mountains and flower-laden fields. Interestingly, she uses a bottle and nozzle as her instrument to create a flowing, swaying movement of the trees while brush and knife also come handy when creating the textural effect on her canvases.
“I always paint from imagination. All my work is done free hand, I never draw or sketch before hand, whether it is landscapes or even a figure. It may sound funny but I actually dreamt of using a bottle and nozzle to create the effect that my recent paintings have. Then I tried out this method and realised it worked for me beautifully to create this flowing effect on canvas,” says Renuka.
“I was always sketching and drawing as a child. After graduating with a law degree from DU, I then decided to pursue a Bachelor in Education degree. Here we were asked to create art related projects and perhaps I was the only one who had a full portfolio of pen and ink works, landscapes, etc. My teachers could not believe that I didn’t have a formal training in art. So I guess I always had an innate sense of painting and I continued to paint what inspired me all through my travels in various countries,” she adds.
Renuka’s paintings not only reflect her passion as an artist but also a deep concern for the fast depleting forest cover in our country. Naturally so, as she spent her childhood in the lush green forests of Mussoorie where every summer and winter holiday meant endless hours spent amidst picturesque landscapes.
“I grew up in the foothills of the Himalayas,” she says. “The mountains were lush green, there was ample snow in winter and the valleys were full of flowers in summer. I spent most of my spare time sitting outdoors, watching the changing moods of the forest and listening to the sounds of nature. I often go to Mussoorie even now and I’m pained to see how the landscape has changed. These forests have almost disappeared as the hills have been vandalised by all of us.
“I still live in those forests and relive those monsoon sunsets, the green hills turning pink, purple and gold. In my mind, I touch again those mountain slopes, sway again with the trees and walk amidst the lush undergrowth of the forest. I have tried to paint some of these memories that refuse to leave the recesses of my mind. The forests are disappearing and this is true for the entire country. Through my work, I want to not only revisit my childhood but also bring back focus on why environment and its protection are important.”
Renuka is a law graduate from Delhi University and after getting married to Pavan K Varma, whose foreign postings as an Indian Foreign Service diplomat took her to various countries, she continued to paint what inspired her. For instance, in Romania, she was charmed by and created glass paintings, she took to oils in Moscow and Cyprus and recalls that her first serious initiation into art was when she saw a leonardo Da Vinci exhibition in Bulgaria, her husband’s first foreign posting. It was in Bhutan in 2012 that Renuka lost her paintings and she reveals that it has taken her a lot of courage and “great support” from her husband to be able to debut in Delhi as an artist.
About her inspirations she says, “In Delhi itself, we have such beautiful trees around us. Areas like Tilak Marg, Rashtrapati Bhavan, Nehru Park, even the bio-diversity park next to my home where we go for morning walks is laden with imli, neem, amaltas, jamun and so much more. Every tree around me inspires me and it’s not as if I just copy them, I add my own imagination to what I see around me. And then, my husband who has been the biggest influence and support for me and pushed me to paint again when I had given up on it four years ago.”
Her colour palette ranges from the bright red of a work titled Poppies and tangerine yellow of Genda Phool (the largest work in the show at 10 feet by 6.5 feet) to misty whites of Himalayan ranges and verdant green of the forest cover.
“Every painting has a story. It’s about saving our environment and our fast depleting natural resources, but above all its about the beauty around us and an artist can only translate that beauty and its significance on canvas,” she concludes.
The show will be inaugurated by renowned poet and lyricist Gulzar on March 1 at the Visual Arts Gallery, India Habitat Centre.