The gallery contains 21 artworks, all by women. Visions-Prosperity, the ongoing exhibition at Indriyam Art Gallery in Mattancherry, mirrors 21 distinctive thoughts. “The show doesn’t have a common theme. It explores the works of continuously practising female artists in Kerala,” says Sreekanth of Indriyam Art Gallery.
Painting by Bindhi Rajagopal
The show is a feast for the eyes as it displays different kinds of works. If Priyaranjini has taken her pet and its dreams as the subject, Meera Krishna portrays the idea of resurrection through a self-portrait. Priyaranjini’s pet is a cat and it dreams of fish. Anju Acharya’s work — composed of human hair, natural extracts, charcoal, thread and etching on paper — points to the invisible chain that connects every little thing.
Dodsy Antony’s painting Elegance of Wisdom shows an ear ornamented with a beehive. A few bees sit on the ear. One bee whispers something into the ear. Bees are known for their wisdom; their lifestyle teaches us leadership, efficiency and growth. The artist puts the hive on the ear as an ornament, maybe to bring in the elegance element. And, the bee must be humming the lessons of wisdom into the ear.
Painting by Smitha G.S.
Pollution is Bindhi Rajagopal’s theme. Her painting is again a self-portrait done with minimum colours. There is a woman standing on the seashore. She sees ‘the weeds, crab shells and fish bones tangled in plastic’. The dark tone of the painting goes well with the melancholy it depicts.
Vijini Dominic’s work has a beautiful woman with sharp eyes. Her bare back is inked with the images of flowers and leaves. A bird perches on her right shoulder. She must be a nature lover. Sara Hussain’s strokes with knife show a regular picture on street.
Dreams and childhood fears have found a place in Babitha Rajiv’s work Oxymorons, done using the pen. The meticulously detailed work shows a field of mushrooms. There is a leg on which sits a frog. Babitha says, in her childhood, she unknowingly ate a frog leg and the thought pained her a lot. Since then she has tried to evade such circumstances. That forms the crux of this painting.
Artwork by Babitha Rajiv
Suffocation of the woman is what Gruthu Sandhya narrates through her painting, which has a woman covering her face with her own shawl. She is restricted from outside views, perhaps a self-imposed seclusion. The woman, who is shielded by an owl, in Deepa Gopal Sunil’s painting, might be a lover of the night. She maybe a solo traveller, who sets her own rules.
Not just these, the show has many more interesting narratives. It will be on till August 24.
