“When I was a child, my mother said to me, ‘If you become a soldier, you’ll be a general. If you become a monk, you’ll be the pope.’ Instead I became a painter and wound up as Picasso.” — Pablo Picasso.
This IPS officer’s story stemming from his solo showing seems to leap straight out of a movie script. A man with an aspiration to become an artist despite his busy schedule, Lokeshwar Rao Madiraju has been participating in several art shows. This solo show Buddha, the great was much-anticipated, and opened during Buddha Purnima this month at the Rangoli Art Centre in MG Road. Lokeshwar Rao has created his oeuvres keeping in mind only one muse and inspiration — The Buddha whose teachings have inspired his life and decisions. A self-taught artist, one must laud his passion alone, for creating unique and vivid Buddha paintings, that depict tales from the master’s sacred beliefs. The best and most versatile thing in Rao’s Buddhas is that all are multi-coloured, layered, each telling a story about his way of life. Certain talents can never be taught and some are blessed with this inborn trait, with Rao being a perfect example. Ever since Rao’s childhood, he had a different inclination towards drawing and sketching. He always had a different way of looking into things, with an altered perspective and a different perceptive ability. His imagination had no barrier. It was stronger than anything known to man, faster than the speed of light, deeper than the ocean of thoughts. It was the seed for basic intellect of creativity and innovation, the artist feels. The works on display are just some examples of the reinvention of creative bliss. Every work has a deep thought and meaning supporting the visual description. M Lokeswara Rao belongs to the 1983 batch of Indian Forest Service (IFS) as principal chief conservator of forests and head of forest force (Rtd) Nagaland. He explains his body of work, “The constant searching of self is the characteristic of each painting . It inspired the artist in me to paint a series of paintings for the present show Buddha, the great.”
Every work had a deep thought and meaning supported with a visual description. All the paintings were inspired by the eight important symbols of Buddhism such as conch, lotus, unending knot and dharma chakra among others. The show was an ode to the passion of this man who says his life is dedicated to Buddhism. The show concluded on May 15.
—The writer is an art expert and curator.
