Nostalgia on canvas

“I believe that my life is a progressing journey. So is my art. I have no fixed destination, it just keeps going”, says artist R.Varatharajan at his ongoing exhibition at Kasthuri Sreenivasan Art Gallery. The exhibition showcases 64 pen and ink and acrylic on canvas works. “I am self-taught,” says the artist who has participated in around 25 group exhibitions. “This is my first solo exhibition. My subject for this is life in villages.” Varatharajan says the inspiration comes from his childhood memories of his village Karamadai.

For example, he has a painting that he calls Kaalkavasam in which a man is nailing an iron shoe to a bull’s hoof. “We had an iron smith who used to make these iron shoes for animals. I saw this regularly in my village, those days,” he says. There is another vignette from his childhood in Uzhlaippu where a washerman and his family are on their way to the stream to do the washing that their donkey is carrying for them. Their child sits astride the donkey. “Human relation is one of my favourite subjects. In villages children are taught everything that they will need to survive from a very young age,” observes Varatharajan. So, village women going about their chores, babies, goat herds and village elders people his paintings. Many of these depictions are in the form of ink and pen drawings. Ullasamaai has a grandfather enjoying a joyride with his grandchildren on a bullock cart; Aravanaippu has a woman balancing a pot of water on her head with one arm as she carries her baby in the other; Unavukkaaga shows an Irula woman tending goats as she carries her simple meal with her in a lunch box. Cattle and hens, children and goats frolic about. Varatharajan draws my attention to a drawing called Azhagu Paarthal . Children hold their dog in front of a mirror as if to let him admire himself in the mirror! “It shows the innocence of the children,” he smiles

Talking of his technique, Vratharajan says, “The outlines are the most important element in my paintings.” As one can see in his other paintings like Thaaimai that has a cow with its calf, his outlines are thick and look easy. And he says how his drawings are often just made up of few strokes. “I also use muted colours in the background in my drawings. I think it is the best to convey what I have in my mind”, he says.

Info you can use

T ill May 7; 10.00 am to 6.00 pm

At Kasthuri Sreenivasan Art Gallery, Avanashi Road.

Call 04222574110 for details

The works for sale and are priced between ₹2,000 and ₹10,000