"My paintings make you feel like you are watching a snapshot of life, bursting with energy, and maximum preposterousness," shares Mumbai-based artist Nayanaa Kanodia (71). The art in question is her latest series of paintings 'Seen-Unseen', which is currently on display at Chawla Art Gallery, Saket, till February 27.
Comprising 15 artworks, this exhibition is a representation of the innate joy one uncovers in the mundane quality of everyday life. Kanodia carefully delineates life's routine instances through caricatures.
"My paintings can be distinguished by an air of whimsy, vibrant, and dynamic colours, and the extraordinary plethora of intricately worked details, patterns, and shapes. The series delights the viewer with its whimsy, and also outlines important social messages of our life," she shares.
The curator of this show, Shibani Chawla, explains the title of Kanodia's series, "'Seen-Unseen' felt like an apt title. Nayanaa paints and manifests ordinary and everyday events of life on her canvas. It is 'unseen' because they are portrayed in a whimsical and joyful manner," she says.
Representing daily life
Kanodia's paintings depict day-to-day instances with utmost detailing. Be it interpreting scenes of big-fat family celebrations or a satirical portrayal of domestic roles, Gupta's work is a result of fly-on-the-wall observations about routine practices.
"The freshness of the images I create gives a crystalline utopian appearance to the everyday life being depicted. They are a reflection of the charming idiosyncrasies of my subjects, [portrayed] with a fine degree of wit and gentle satire," mentions Kanodia.
Kanodia's work, she shares, is an intersection of the world she has an in-depth understanding of and the world that disturbs her. This is also what allows her to create her own artistic dialect.
Kanodia's artworks are further layered with the historicity of our periodic schedule. Describing one of her paintings from this series, she adds, "For generations, women have been compelled to apply make-up to look a certain way. In the painting 'Beauty at its Best', the dog is looking at the lady, and enjoying the process."
Depicting the new normal
'Seen-Unseen' is also an extension of 'the new normal' - the changes we have experienced as a society, post the pandemic. "The pandemic has affected all of us. With the saddening news of morbidities around, I wanted to create paintings that bring out a little joy and cheer to the people who see them, to make them reflect that life is not so bad," shares Kanodia.
The exhibition being showcased virtually has helped them approach a wider audience, affirms both Kanodia and Chawla. "We have really broadened our horizons with digitisation and online shows. This is giving such exhibitions more visibility and a wider clientele," concludes Chawla.