The artists who are also school students drew inspiration from artists of different genres and created paintings which reflected their interpretation of self and the environment around them. By Jigyasu Joshi
“There are times in life when I felt stressed and there was a dark cloud of tensions and all went dark. So while I was drawing this lighthouse, I had in mind that one thing which always clears my sky,” said 15-year-old Ayesha while explaining about her painting which she called And then there was light. Articulations II, an exhibition held at Courtyard by Marriot in Gurgaon showcased the work of eight budding artists across paintings and sculptures. Making a difference to the environment, the young guns came up with artworks on the theme of environment conservation.
The works were a blend of watercolours and acrylics on canvas, and depict vibrant hues and complex patterns through abstracts, portraits, landscapes. The artists also used charcoal on the canvases. In the second edition of this art show, paintings and sculptures by artists Ananya Vinayak, Avantika Khanna, Ayesha Dhall, Deveshi Malhotra, Priyanka Vinayak, Rhea Bhargava, Shivani Ahuja and Tvisha Arora were on display. The artists who are also school students drew inspiration from artists of different genres and created paintings which reflected their interpretation of self and the environment around them. “I am inspired by artists Henry Matisse and Gustav Klimt, and I tried to bring their techniques and styles in my art,” said Shivani Ahuja, who has gained much admiration for her art in the recent years. “I draw sometimes about things I read. like for one of my paintings, I depicted the quote which goes like sometimes we are too busy trying to get through a closed door that we miss the open window beside it. So I draw what I read,” she said.
The exhibition included sculptures which were experimental in style and the young artists gave it a swing of their imagination. Rhea Bhargava, a 16-year-old artist also enjoys making sculptures. “I wanted to make a sculpture that stands out from the other sculpture arts people have seen. So after making a face sculpture, I trimmed it out from places and gave it a swirled look,” she explained. Students have pledged to donate the proceedings from this exhibition to the campaign I Am Gurgaon, for the initiative, REUSE. The campaign encourages people to BYOB — Bring Your Own Bag, for shopping etc. and also discourages the use of plastic bags.
Painting out the feeling of peace and being free, artist Avantika Khanna painted a portrait of Buddha. “This portrait of Buddha is my depiction of what Nirvana would be like. The peace and serenity with bright forest and flowers is what I think it would be like,” she said. Avantika also painted a scene of a forest with the branch of a tree covered with red leaves and butterfly flying around which she called Udaan. “This painting is my depiction of the forest at night. Also, the butterflies flying indicates freedom,” she added.
The artists have also given their paintings to get digitally printed on the bags which will be distributed as part of the BYOB concept. The exhibition will conclude on October 29.