Of unique culture and colours
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
In pensive mood, it is possible to wander around woods, and enjoy the blue sky at the deserts of Kuwait! It is of course exclamatory. But with the magical touch of Prakashan Puthur on the walls of houses in different parts of the country, flora and fauna is right around.
"Passion" and "practice for years together" make an artist seamless. He is a painter, a writer and in short, an excellent artist. His paintings were exhibited and sold at his homeland. "Yet to do an exhibition here", he is working on works that "may be exhibited soon" at Kuwait.
Asked about his home, he became loquacious about the culture, tradition, lore, politics and the umpteen other elements that are clearly seen in most of his works. The vibrant colours in his paintings depict the emotional effect his village and the folklores gifted. He is born and bought up at Puthur a village, at Karivellur in Kannur district of Kerala. The folk icons of the land, that include theyyams, music, temples.., has deeply stuck his soul and the "intuitive mind" of the artist portraits those colours in his works.
"Those paintings done at home is deeply influenced by the family background and our culture filled with a sacredness filled with fear", he said pointing the work where a lady walks amid trees with green grass on her head. The lady represents his "mother" who worked in "paddy fields, plucking the green grass and looking after the cattle" and the colours are the reflections of the "experiences recalled unconsciously". Made up in a family occupied completely in agriculture, his works describe the relation between the “humans and the nature".
The Salvador Dalian influence made his paintings "surrealistic" and he compares his painting with Sathyajith Ray’s pather Panchali told in a "realistic and simple" manner. He is true, as his paintings can mesmerise any common person. Anybody can interpret the meaning hidden in his art. The tree with no leaves left on it, standing at the middle of a desert represents "loneliness". It is a "feeling of a person living alone at a desert" or "the tree can be interpreted as an old man". He says, he loves the painting most, among his others. Reading between the lines of the lady sitting on the walls of the well speaks about the artist "in love in his teens". The works with red, yellow and other dark shades, unique, brings the intangible essence of the north Kerala.
The hues and tones in the repertoire of paintings at Kuwait, unlike those made at home have the nostalgia and at times it remains the signature of memories. The charm of village, rain and the most emotional touch of literature and folklores make them represent "a pravasi dream". The cover page of the book ‘Abdaliyile Nilaaraavukal’ (Published by Prathibha Kuwait) has the dreams and hopes of an expatriate at a desert revealed in the best possible manner. ‘Avathaarame’, his poem about "the relation between images, words and life" is published in the collection of poems by the malayali poets in Kuwait.
The works now, ranges from "an A4 size paper to 20 metre wall". But he is excited and "thrilled". He feels "fortunate" to make a living out of his most favourite "hobby", turned "profession". The painting done at Kuwait, as a profession is completely different from those "done at home".
The tint deep inside his heart perceives as an inseparable part of his paintings, is not used when the profession at Kuwait is done according to the love for customers. "They like abstract paintings, they love sceneries, they have vague designs, they want golden, red and black colours". He is surprised to see the taste of women, "unlike those common women at India", in choosing colours and designs for beautifying their room. "The paintings gives a fresh look to their interiors and it actually changes their mood". The clients like "contemporary art too". It becomes "reminiscence", when they give an idea, rarely, of making a "naalukettu" (architecture especially found in Kerala). He, at times, spots the "similarities between Arabic and Indian culture" and it is "history".
Unique are the colours he chooses and that make his paintings close to the heart of people. He is happy when his art is "appreciated" wholeheartedly at the exhibitions and at social media. He believes that his paintings are not "put under any isms" and he is glad to brand it as a "Prakashan art". "The viewers should identify my painting with the exclusivity of my own style", he says. "Popularising" the art is his intention and he as an artist "expresses" his thoughts. He protests against the "atrocities in the society". The TP Chandrashekaran sketch comes out of the deep depression and dispute. A communist to core, he could not "keep his feelings himself". Most of his paintings display the truth silently told. An analytical eye brings out the revolution and his resolution.
"An artist should not forget any such incidents that has deeply impacted society. Media as an industry may overlook it". That is the reason for continuing with the subject "women" in the camp to be organised by the Art of Kuwait in March. It was the subject chosen for their previous artist camp and "it was a tribute to the Delhi rape and death victim". He is the general secretary of the association. "I was blank when I reached Kuwait. But after meeting people with same sense of beauty and truth, I enjoy being here". He is an activist in ‘Prathiba Kuwait’, a
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Reshmi Naveen Gopal is a freelance writer. She is a post graduate in Communication and Journalism. She has worked with main stream print media and online journals. She has been a faculty in communication and journalism at a couple of colleges.
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