Exploring mind with nature

KOCHI: A snake is shedding its skin, but why is it keeping a jewel close to it? The onlookers can derive many meanings out of it; young artist Anju Acharya’s work is about her experience during the recent floods. Having lost 80 per cent of her works in the flood, this is her first solo exhibition - titled ‘Unborn’ - at Durbar Hall Art Gallery in Kochi.

“This work depicts how we had to leave everything we owned during the floods, and the jewel on the snake’s body shows the most valuable things we managed to keep safe,” said Anju.

Anju doesn’t start with a definite theme, but gets one towards its completion. Her emotional state is reflected in the artwork. “It is nothing short of a surprise to myself until the work is completed,” she says. 
It is this unpredictability of the final outcome and the ‘surprising element’ which takes her on this journey with her mind. Her work ‘My Journal’ took her two years to complete, as it was based on what she felt on a daily basis. Only at the end was she able to get a full view of what she has been creating. 

The ‘Unborn’ is all about her mind, body and nature. She uses flowers, critters and such minute forms to explore her own path. Her gripping patterns portray female sexuality in flora and fauna. The images concentrate mainly on embryonic stages of all organisms, their injuries, the flesh, bone and such internal organs to create a strong visual form.

Another speciality of her work will be the natural materials she uses to imprint her imagination. She uses rice papers, charcoals, flower colours and natural extracts as her canvas. “My works are based mainly on nature and I try to draw a parallel between my body and land. Earlier, I used to use plastic as my canvas, then I realized how contradictory it will be when my theme is all about nature,” she said.
Seeing her images, one would wonder how she manages to be so neat with details. Her sketches show delicate and detailed illustrations of microscopic organic objects such as dried flower petals, beetles, seeds, shells, leaves and veins. 

“I collect such things, study it in detail about their parts, textures and such to adapt to my work. Also, I always make it a point to not restrict my works on flat surfaces but use sola wood papers to include projections to depict some flesh or body parts,” she said. 

Though her works express her personal and private emotional reactions, most of them are named ‘Untitled’ to let the audience interpret it in their own perspective. Apart from paintings, she also showcases her artworks in printmaking and photography at UnBorn.