A simple take on art

KOCHI: Eight-year-old Nila Stacy Jones has been conducting solo exhibitions for the past two years. Her latest work, displayed at the Durbar Hall art gallery is a colourful asymetery of acrylic paintings, depicting some of the best moments captured from nature. These paintings by Nila  has that capacity to keep the viewer engaged.Her first painting exhibition done in watercolour was held two years ago. Painting, she says, has always been a passion. “I started painting at the age of three. I have done paintings using different mediums such as oil, watercolour,” says Nila. 

Twenty four acrylic paintings have been displayed at the current exhibition. “Most of my friends who are artists saw her paintings and were impressed. They told us to encourage her interest in art,” said Anupama Sasidharan, Nila’s mother.In the last two years, this child artist has participated in exhibitions and workshops with international artists like Morris Monroe, Caroline Goldstein and Chris. This helped her a lot and she has been constantly experimenting on creating more attractive paintings with different themes. Nila says there is no specific style that she follows. She uses her brush, knife, toothbrush and even her fingers to paint on the canvas. 

Nila’s work has been displayed at the C Gallery of Durbar Hall. Her paintings titled ‘Snowman’, ‘Butterflies and flowers’, ‘Dandelion in the blue wind’, ‘Rain and the lonely plant’, have been painted in blue and green. Some of her works are abstract. In her painting titled ‘dandelion in the blue wind’, the image is of a dandelion which is dispersed by the wind giving the impression to the viewers about the importance of freedom that is often constrained. 

 Nila does not attend regular school and takes open school examinations and other alternative learning methods instead as she believes her art will be affected. She was also a member of the young artists who participated in the Kochi Muziris Biennale last year. She did her first solo exhibition in 2015 at Kerala Lalitha kala Academi, Kochi and Kozhikode and then at Ballard Bungalow Art Space Gallery at Fort Kochi. Her fourth solo exhibition at Durbar Hall is on till October 27.