Surreal strokes

KOCHI: Aham, Athma and Yanam are three sub groups under which the works of Harikrishna Janardhana, a Kollam-based artist, are is showcased at ‘Aa Maram Ee Maram’, an ongoing exhibition at the Vyloppilli Samskrithi Bhavan. Having more than 30 years of experience in the field of art, this is Harikrishna’s third solo exhibition in the city. His works, which depict the creation of nature such as birds, trees and insects, also have the aspect of wilderness in them. Not someone who uses colours for just increasing the aesthetic quality of his art, Harikrishna’s passionate strokes are more about conveying his emotions. 

One of the paintings shows a lizard trying to catch its severed tail. According to Harikrishna, the work is an indirect reference to the struggles he faced as a youngster when he was forced to leave his home in search of work. “I have tried to depict the sorrow that I overcame while leaving my elderly parents. However, the prospect of moving to a new city like Bengaluru also caused great excitement in my life. A few frames under Aham are also a representation of the years of loneliness that I encountered after moving to the city,” he said.

 Another work known as ‘Uncontrolled lines’ contains the application of chemicals in it. Brown, a favourite colour of Harikrishna which is predominant in most of his paintings, also adds a primitive quality to the works. ‘Brownie griefs’, the work which fetched him a prestigious award from the State Lalit ha Kala Akademi is also on display.

An expert at applied art, Harikrishna is not shy of experimenting. Watercolour, acrylic and Fuji watercolour are some of the main mediums the artist employs. Bird-human transfusion is presented in a work called ‘Trapped’. “I had also made a sculpture of a human body with the head of a bird. Wassily Kandinsky, John Morrow and Salvador Dali are some of the surrealist artists that Harikrishna admires. After the exhibition winds up on February 22, he also plans to showcase his works at a similar event in Kollam.