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Familiar and fresh frames

The works on show capture the sounds and sights of Kerala

HOME AND EASEL Usha Menon blends the two roles well Photo H. vibhu

A certain freshness springs out of the medium sized canvases of Usha Menon. Thirty of her works are on show at Wallframes Gallery till tomorrow and the theme is Kerala. So you have sounds and sights of the State depicted in true, characteristic colours. But more than that many of the paintings are recollections of childhood memories, wonderfully reconstructed with grandma and all. The touch of an artist is veiled behind the touch of a homemaker who claims continuously, and modestly, " I am an amateur." So what? You ask, for the works are made between answering the doorbell, the phone and the whistle of the pressure cooker. They are not diligently worked out in an atelier but are born out of sheer love for painting. A host of images from the familiar landscape of Kerala are brought alive. The temples, Pooram, Onam, Chinese nets, a creek in Wyanaad, a grandmother surreptitiously feeding her favourite grandchild in the store, cooking fish in a Christian household, Pathumma feeding the sheep, right out of a Basheer short story, are some of the subjects in this show.

This mid-life journey into art began in faraway Ahmedabad and after the days work was done.

"I had time on my hands. I travelled to Rajasthan, to villages in Gujarat and made sketches. When I returned home I painted them. My friends and family encouraged me to hold an exhibition and the response was unbelievable. In Ahmedabad every college has art as a subject. So artists came in droves for the show. This encouraged me. Back in Kochi, last year, I began working on this exhibition for the past four months," says Ms. Menon, who has converted her talent into a fruitful enterprise. In the show are eight works in oil on oil sketch paper from her last exhibition. Some of the themes are a Rajasthani woman, a distressed Muslim girl during the Gujarat riots, her chowkidar's wife and an abstract: confluence of souls. The paintings are pleasing to the eye and the works a tribute to the State. They are moderately priced and make perfect souvenirs from Kerala.

P.S

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