‘I cannot leave this place’. That is how artist Murali Sivaramakrishnan describes his connect with Kudajadri hill in Karnataka while capturing the misty landscape of the terrain on his canvas. It is one of 51 watercolour paintings exhibited by the artist at Kerala Lalithakala Akademi Art Gallery at Vyloppilly Samskrithi Bhavan in the capital city.
Lush green landscape, verdant paddy fields swaying in the breeze, coconut palms, waterfall, majestic mountains, rustic locales, flora and fauna… the artist is on a tour of nature through his paintings.
“These works were done in the last two years, during the lockdown. Having lived indoors for a long time, I felt it is time to show the world outside. And instead of going for installations and large scale multimedia works, I thought that watercolour would complement the theme,” says the artist. In November 2020, he held a virtual exhibition after the physical show got cancelled due to the pandemic.
Murali adds, “Unfortunately, we don’t get to see many of these images these days. So there is an element of nostalgia, a sense of homecoming in these frames. For that, I needed a medium that had transparency to it and watercolour has that quality when compared to acrylic, pastel or oil.”
Vignettes from nature
Professor and former chair at the Department of English, Pondicherry University, Murali has been a nature photographer and bird watcher. The exhibits are self-explanatory vignettes inspired by his travels. For example, the temple town of Tiruvannamalai, the Jain temple at Wayanad, the ruins of a church in Dhanushkodi, the landscape of Ponmudi, Kaliveli bird-watching spot in Puducherry and Athirappilly waterfalls. “I have done a lot of sketches of the church at Dhanushkodi. The one showcased here is actually a pencil sketch. I have done water colour on it,” says Murali.
Many sights from Thiruvananthapuram too have made it to the exhibition. Like the bridge at Karamana, the Mateer Memorial CSI Church at LMS and the Punchakkari wetlands. “Punchakkari is where I go for my birding expeditions. It is a favourite place,” he says.
He celebrates Palakkad, the granary of Kerala, through multiple frames of the vast expanse of paddy fields, with women preparing the field, planting the saplings and reaping the harvest. The topography of the region has been beautifully frames by the artist.
The bridge is a recurrent theme. There are the makeshift bridges, like the one made with coconut trunks, and pathways through the woods. “They stand for the roads I have taken. With virgin forests disappearing, the trails too have become memories,” he adds.
The play of hues elevates the works. As in the case of ‘If there is a paradise on earth’, which, according to him is erstwhile Nanchinadu, present-day Kanyakumari district, that has a splash of ochre. “Getting the right blend of colour is a challenge,” says Murali, with special reference toone work on dried-up sand beds of the Bharatapuzha.
This the artist’s 18th solo exhibition. It ends on April 27.
