His solo exhibition titled Kolvel is Vijay’s thoughts, experience and reflection of the pandemic and the consequent lockdowns. Before sitting down for a chat, the award-winning artist took us around to explain his work. “When the lockdown started in 2020, I left to my hometown Kolvel, a coastal hamlet in Kanniyakumari, tucked away from the chaos of city life. I got time to create something personal — I have connected nature and nostalgia and presented this exhibition. This collection of work represents my past, nativity and connection with nature. Through Kolvel, I wanted people to know the need to look back and relive our past,” he tells DT Next.

Nature has a cue in everything — the bud, flower, insect, animal and sound — it is just us who should listen, trace and connect with it for a complete living and co-evolving. “For me, nature is the paradise that never fails to surprise us with its beauty and purpose. I believe that it is necessary to cultivate a consciousness that is attuned to the natural process to connect to nature,” he adds.

                                                          (Photos: Manivasagan N)

The collection includes mixed-media installations on wood. In the two works titled Sound Alert, Vijay gives shape to animal vocalisation where alarm calls like whistles, stridulation act as a communication to other animals that are in poor visibility of the danger. “Through these installations, I have reinforced the concept of co-evolving, which seems to be long forgotten by humanity. This exhibition is a tribute to the boundless beauty of nature and humanity’s evident isolation from it,” the artist sums up.