Paintings are windows to the mind, thinks Sushmita Sen. Sreya Basu chats up with the actress in Mumbai on her latest inclination for art
SHILLONG-BASED Riti Academy of Visual Arts organized the Thon Shun Art Camp from May 9-16 in collaboration with the state Arts and Culture Department and Indian Council for Cultural Relations. In commemoration of Rabindranath Tagore, the camp at Brookside Mansion showcased some of the upcoming painters from the state. It had amateurs, professionals and those who are doing higher studies in fine arts. Their paintings showed painters of Meghalaya are among the best in the country.
Basically interested in nature and landscapes, Daniel M Marak painted a traditional Garo Nok A’chik (common home), a village hut typical of the rural Garo Hills. “In this painting, I wanted to portray a remote village in the interiors of Garo Hills where people are living in purity with natural surroundings, landscapes, water ponds, falls, etc.,” said Daniel. He used acrylic to portray Nok A’chik made of bamboo, haystacks and logs, along with a Nok Pante (bachelor house) offering the ambience and meaning of a traditional tribal Garo family’s living with nature.
Daniel has participated in art exhibitions in New Delhi and feels that such camps help artists like him get encouragement and know about modern art, abstracts and the changes that art is going through for better presentation.
Ario Manner is another professional painter who painted a natural stream resembling the Umshyrpi stream that runs alongside the Brookside Mansion campus. Sitting in the open, with a view of the greenery that this campus provides, his painting depicts the blooming summer with nature at its best with fully grown trees alongside the stream. “Trees that grow besides a stream or river looks nicer because of the moisture it continues to receive,” said Manner, a self-taught artist into this trade for the last 10 years. He has attended many such workshops.
Mehnaz Ali’s art was about temptation. An experienced painter who has lived in cities like Hyderabad and Gurgaon in, she is now staying in Guwahati. She explains that a snake, one of the three objects in her painting, is interpreted differently in every religion. “It is something according to the Bible whereas it stands for wisdom in another as it has multifaceted interpretations,” she said. The temptation painting depicts a hand holding an apple with an encircled snake on the hand moving upwards towards the apple. Mehnaz has recently done a solo on hyper-realistic art in Guwahati.
Influenced by Mehnaz’s appearance, fellow painter from Manipur Sanajaoba Tensuva made her portrait with Meitei Mayek letters all around revealing her name. Sana is doing a fellowship from the Union Ministry of Culture and had participated in prestigious art camps in Azad Bhawan, Indian Council for Cultural Relations, New Delhi and elsewhere.
The bonding seen in a traditional Khasi family with the mother in control and her influence was the theme of Balaiamon Kharngapkynta pursuing Master’s in Fine Arts from Vishwa Bharati University, Shantiniketan specializing in graphics and print making. She sketches on personal issues and in this painting she tried to portray the bonding that she, her elder sister and mother enjoys in the family with the common cord being their hairs – all rising and meeting a single point. She has also depicted the natural beauty of Shillong to explain the connection of this bonding.
Sharing her experiences on studying fine arts in Shantiniketan, Balaiamon said that education is different there since the students have to learn mainly on their own mostly with their individual efforts whereas the teacher is there to guide and assist. “The departments there are open 24 hours. It is very different from the conventional type of universities that we generally get to see,” she said.
Journalist D Henpi for whom painting is a hobby created a science fiction piece on the biggest question that man is facing: is life form beyond? The former correspondent of an international news agency said, “Whenever we search for anything we look up but not inside earth, that is, down where there might be a super human being. Satellites are focused upwards into the sky but they never go down and so we never know. When we look down, we only think it is hell but there can be life as history is replete with instances about caves, civilizations as science say that we have come upon earth and there can be a possibility.”
Another such part-time painter, Donbok Kharkongor painted a handheld photo frame with a bunch of grapes in it, the holder trying to find a suitable place to hang it. He likes painting at home but feels that such art camps can help painters in exchanging painting ideas and learning more.
The changing face of Shillong as a small town into a dirty city was the theme of Danny Tiewdop. His townscape painting depicts the true picture of the city with bins lying in the open and strewn all over actually indicates the mindset of the general public who cares for nothing except their own surroundings. The painting is beautifully themed with the pictures of temple, church, mosque and other religious shrines in the background. Danny has earlier attended a Lalit Kala Akademi workshop held in Kohima.
Science teacher Markus Sangma’s painting on the beginning of the universe can be a befitting reply to the ego that men carry with them. “In comparison with the vast universe, we men are a very tiny invisible spot on earth. The concept is as humans we are egocentric and if we see ourselves in the whole universe then we are very tiny spots,” he said.
YOU SEEM to have become an art lover of late.
Oh, I love art… from children’s drawings to Picasso’s bacche ki tarah paintings to (MF) Husainsaab’s interpretations of horses, Ganpati and Mother Teresa to (SH) Raza’s graphical kind of portrayals. I have a huge collection of art not because they are expensive (though that too is an important aspect), but because we stay within four walls and if you put paintings on those walls, they become windows. Whenever you want to be at peace with yourself, want to be inspired, imaginative, you look at those windows and they take you to their world.
Have you ever tried your hand at painting?
So far, I have done everything in life at least for once; I still do that and will continue to do that. I even did painting. A painting of mine was even auctioned for Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre, which is built in the name of Imran Khan’s (Pakistani cricketer-turned-politician) mother. My painting titled Ibadat was sold for Rs 50lakh and was used for cancer patients.
What is your genre of art?
I don’t paint for the world but for myself and hence do it like a child.
What according to you is a good painting?
A good painting should be one looking at which even the most depressed and troubled person gets a smile on his face.
Like you, Bollywood superstar Salman Khan too is known for his love for brush and colours. Have you seen his paintings?
Yes. Salman Khan is a fantastic artist because he paints not with his hands but his heart.
Has he gifted you a painting?
Salman paints to help people. I requested him several times make a painting for me, but he has not taken out time for me. So I went to his house and got a painting off his wall and brought it home. I have two of his paintings at my house and I cherish them very much.
What about your daughters? Do they paint too?
My elder daughter Renee (13) loves to paint; Alisah (3) is more interested in putting different colours on her palms and leave those marks on the walls, which is very dangerous for me.
Do you have a favourite among your daughter’s drawings?
Renee has made a spectacular painting of Lord Shiva for me which I have put on my wall. It is a beautiful painting in black and she made it out of her imagination. She made a pregnant Shiva. When I asked her why she made Shiva pregnant in your painting, she said: “You are both mother and father to me. So if there is Shiva, he has to be a woman too.”
Renee made a Shiva, which religious figure would you love to paint?
I would love to make a painting of Maa Durga.
Deviating from paintings a little, unlike most actors and actresses you are always seen driving your car instead of a driver. Why is that?
I believe that if a person knows how to do a thing, he/she should not depend on others for getting that job done. And hence, I drive my own car. And then, I love cars. From my childhood my bapidadu (grand-father) taught me how to drive a car. I got my first lesson in driving in an Ambassador car. At present I have three cars. (TWF)
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