There are two sides to the personality of artist Sastry Sanyasayya, and he excels in both with equal genius. Amongst the wide array of his beautiful works, he looks and definitely is a gifted natural artist. While talking about his work as a Manager at anti-corruption bureau (ACB) he says, “Painting gives me a vent and route to be free and enter terrains of known and unknown intensities. It relaxes me and energises me to confront the routine challenges in my job.”
While sharing about his artistic journey Sastry tells, “I never took academic training in fine arts and yet the deep affinity for the same inspired me to absorb the bold and fine aspects about painting and expression from all sources. I used to visit the art schools, studios and galleries frequently in a few cities that I have stayed from time to time. After coming back home I used to do drawings and sketches, inspired by the art student’s assignments and artist’s works. But, eventually, I have settled with this style, where I converse with my medium in silent, abstract words.” And, rightly so, his works are like an outspread of undefined, open fantastical spaces. Often these remind one of the sublime elements of nature that exist in a unanimous harmony, like the ever flowing rivers, lakes, magnanimous mountains and iridescent flora sprinkled in haphazard grace. The colour palette reflects the hues and tints absorbed from nature and yet they refrain from being illustrative of any particular element or form. The treatment of the surface is uninhibited and free, the random strokes and patches mingle into one another to become a united, celebrative entity.
Celebrating nature: Some of the artist’s artworks on display
My paintings are the reflections of the vastly spread, varying landscapes that I saw in all the places we stayed
While talking about the frequent and overpowering presence of nature in his works, Sastry elaborates, “My father used to work in the Railways, due to which I got the opportunity to travel a lot of places from Kashmir to Kanyakumari. My paintings are the reflections of the vastly spread, varying landscapes that I saw in all the places we stayed. These works merge those memories and excerpts from my experiences that have become an indelible part of me.”
