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Painters with promise

Students of Stella Maris College prove their creativity on canvas

UNIQUE STYLES The works on display PHOTO: S. THANTHONI

The final year undergraduate students of the Department of Fine Arts, Stella Maris College are exhibiting their paintings at Amethyst till March 19. The exhibits are by the 20 students who had opted for creative work. Some of them have already evolved a style of their own, while some are still in search of one. Many of the works reveal a certain seriousness of approach in terms of subject and technique.

Cindy D'Cruz's black and white paintings such as "Silver Clandenstine" have a brooding and disturbing feeling about them, as if entering the nether world. The criss-cross lines connecting the scared looking cat-like faces of Jahnavi Mahalingam seem to indicate a certain mental agitation. Meera Ganapathi also seems to be interested in expressing abstract emotions through figurative elements. The single leaf blown by the wind such as in "The last leaf" by Inshiya Champion indicates a sense of loneliness,

"Death Miasma" and other works of Namrata Ragunath impress by their varied textural treatment. The sense of vigorous movement in the dancing figures of Rumena Ann Arun is quite commendable, though they appear to have been painted in a hurry. The brushwork and the combination of colours in the abstract expressions of Dipika Chordia and Sneha Stephen attract attention. The use of calligraphy as an element of composition has been cleverly handled by Khadija Sayeed. Though not an easy technique, the glass paintings of Varuna Rustagi are impressive.

The influence of advertisements with computer graphics seems to be strong on Adithi Ajit, while the figures of Shilpa Venkatesh are a little too stiff and remind one of posing models. Many of the creations are quite decorative in approach.

Almost 80 works are on display and space has obviously been a constraint. Many paintings hang too high on the wall, while a few are on the floor and quite a number are on the railings of the verandah.

LAKSHMI VENKATRAMAN

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