A group of artists presents ideas on love, God and mythology through paintings and murals at the Art life Gallery
There isn’t any one theme, or kind of painting to hold one’s attention at the Art life Gallery. The group show, Reverie Strokes, features artists who play with various genres and forms to produce something unique to themselves.
Take Arti Sinha for example. She used to do Madhubani work with vegetable paints and dyes on dupattas and saris. For the first time she has created paintings which combine Madhubani and Mithila traditions on handmade paper.
“These depict myths and stories, with the Mithila work rendering takes on people and folk tales. I combined the mythology with forms and figures of people, to share an entirely new story. The difference between Madhubani and Mithila is that the former is confined within a frame, while the latter are painted on walls. This is not limited to any boundaries,” explained the HR professional.
She visited villages in Bihar and Kolkata to learn the forms, and discovered colours made from vegetables.
“I prepare the tone red from alta — used to adorn the feet and hands in place of mehendi. The other colours were made by mixing vegetable dyes with water and oil.”
Anil Kumar Kohli has made a series on divinity and contributed six paintings to this show, based on the lotus. “The flower is considered auspicious and has religious relevance. I used it to symbolise God, who is omnipresent. We cannot hide things from him.”
In one painting he painted many fish floating in a pond, with a large lotus. “Fishes symbolise human life, which is scattered. like fish swim in water, without knowing where they are headed, humans go on doing deeds and do not realise the end result. But a supreme power governs our actions and guides us,” said the artist.
He mediates before painting. So there is a kind of energy which transfers to canvas. “Bright colours add energy and benefit those buying. I also work on tantra painting which are created on order. For example, if someone has problems at home, my guru and I study the place. Then we notice what is lacking in the environment. Colours in the painting are used accordingly. This customised work is for healing and is effective against negative forces in the environment,” added Kohli.
There are murals by Rashmi Jain who qualified in textiles and fashion designer. Today she paints full-time. “My works are based on love and nature. There is Radha and Krishna, Shiva’s ardhanarishwar avatar.
Plus an Egyptian king and queeen as symbol of love, which keeps the universe going,” she ended. The exhibition continues till May 5.