Features: Magazine | Literary Review | Life | Metro Plus | Open Page | Education Plus | Book Review | Business | SciTech | Friday Review | Cinema Plus | Young World | Property Plus | Quest | Folio |

Photo: S. Gopakumar

Straddling two worlds: Paris Viswanadhan.

“It was a writers’ workshop in Aluva that first raised this interesting observation about Indian artists. I found that one has to reconcile these dual identities, accept it, assimilate analyse, synthesise and then develop a style of one’s own,” says the artist.

And perhaps it is this quest that makes the Paris-based artist still look to his roots for inspiration. The geometric shapes that dominate his works and his penchant for certain shades in the palette clearly shows the influence of the ‘kalams’ and ‘chakras’ that one associates with many rituals in Kerala.

“As a child in Kadavoor (Kollam district), I used to help my father, Palliyavila K. Velu Achary, draw the kalams for various rituals. It is an innate skill that I tap even today. But this latent treasure of colourful memories was revealed only I began to ask myself questions about my art,” says the artist.

Explaining the evolution of an artist he says: “An art student learns portraiture, still life, shades, nature studies and so on. Then comes composition. The final step is the quest to find why one paints and what to paint. That is when the artist acquires his identity.”

Viswanadhan makes it a point to visit Kerala every year and also catch up on the International Festival of Kerala. A trip that marries his interests as artist and filmmaker. “I made five films on the elements – ‘Prithvi,’ ‘Agni,’ ‘Jal,’ ‘Vayu’ and ‘Aakash.’ The films were also the result of a quest. This time it was the search to explore my ‘Indianness.’ I wanted to know what that term meant. Indian is such a pluralistic society in every sense – geography, religion, language, culture…but still there is an India that we all share. So Adoor Gopalakrishnan and I went on a journey to understand and see ‘India.’ Adoor was the cinematographer of the first three films,” recalls Viswanadhan.

For the artist, both the canvas and the screen are mediums to express himself. “The mind should be open to different kinds of art. For an artist from Kerala, Nature is the biggest Muse. The reds, greens and browns bathed in golden shades of sunlight form scenic paintings all around us. That is why Keralites never used to hang paintings on the walls of our houses.

“That is a recent trend, one we acquired from the Europeans. Art is all around us and in us. We paint our body and the floors and walls of our buildings. Our art is sensuous and sensual,” says the artist.

That is the reason why it is important for an artist to maintain his direct contact with nature and not get trapped in a studio, emphasises Viswanadhan, one of the founders of the Cholamandalam artists’ village in Chennai.

Explaining his preference for certain colours at certain phases in his career, he says that dealing with light and colour inspired him to work with the primary colours and light to see its effects. Viswanadhan’s latest works will be exhibited in New York in March.

“It is an evolution within the artist that is manifested on the canvas. One cannot reject the changes around us; the artist must be attuned to society,” says Viswanadhan.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail