would like to continue painting as long as I can,” says Sajith Panackan. Born and brought up in a quaint village called Pallipuram in Cherthala, Sajith has a close association with nature. The wide paddy fields flourished in golden colour, and the lush greenery all had a profound impact on him while growing up. It is quite evident in every stroke on the canvas.
Sajith says it was his father P G Bhaskaran Pillai and art teacher B Swaminathan, who identified the artist in him. “In Pallipuram, the village I grew up in, it was common to see heaps of tall white-coloured silica sand adjacent to the rich farmland and paddy field. I cannot begin to explain that beauty. A few years later, development came in and the white sand started to vanish. The sand can be used to make weapon moulds and glass. Lorries and excavators became a regular sight taking away tonnes of sand. Now, that beauty is lost to the world,” says Sajith.
His paintings ‘Pancharamanal kazhchakal’ testify to the lush beauty of the village he lost. The white sand is dominant in this frame, not uncomfortably, but revealing the marvels. His paintings, though vivid and brightly coloured, aren’t loud. Instead, each of them provides calmness. The peaceful and silent charisma of nature is expressed with a black undertone most of the time.
“For me, dark elements speak of silence and peace. To bring in the state of calmness, I often mix bright colours with black,” adds Sajith. A child curiously sitting in the backdrop of a picturesque village with temples, procession, lakes and coconut trees is one of his works. In another frame, you can find a boy sitting in the company of dogs and a flock of birds. Another painting has a girl standing amid luminous bees.
The presence of a child is inevitable in the frames of Sajith, the school teacher. “Since I work as a teacher, I interact with children every day. I’ve encountered students who grow up in chaotic situations and those who go through depressing stages. In my works, children are waiting for a change and a new hope,” says Sajith.
In most of his paintings, Sajith portrays the human element along with animals. A mynah or a dog is frequent in his works. All of these combined make nature at its best, he says. His recent exhibition ‘Time and Tide’ mostly contained such paintings with nature and children taking centre stage. Interestingly, in some artworks, Sajith has also portrayed himself metaphorically. In beard and spectacles he has taken the form of a butterfly.
“During the pandemic lockdown, like everybody, I was also shut inside. I spent most of that time in my studio. Then, mynahs visited me frequently in the studio. Devoid of conversations, I used to relive the moments I spent in college, especially the memories in Puthen Bungalow. The structure near my college now doesn’t exist. I painted myself as a butterfly flying above the structure, reliving those spent years,” says Sajith.
The artist is now busy prepping for an upcoming group exhibition. The event will begin on December 13 in Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai.