Chennai-Based artist, Vijay Pichumani, has always felt a very strong connection to the earth. All his ideas and concepts are born out of his love for nature, and through his art, he likes to find parallels between humanity and nature. The theme of his latest collection of paintings, titled Re-imagined Reality, is flowers. An exhibition of the paintings kicks off tomorrow at Art Houz, with an inauguration by noted artist SG Vasudev.
Vijay was born in a small village in the Kanyakumari district and spent his early years in the region. A lot of his visual approach to art comes from his formative years spent in the coastal town. “I became an artist so I could devote more time towards nature. Every human being is part of nature so we should value it, respect it and save it,” Vijay tells us. The idea for the pieces in Re-Imagined Reality came to him when he was taking a walk along a muddy path in his hometown and saw bright flowers peeking through the mush. “I made a decision to articulate my thoughts using the motif of flowers. I wanted to identify individuals as flowers and to depict their personality and characteristics in the flowers. During the pandemic, I started exploring this idea in depth. Flowers denote love, softness, colour and happiness,” he explains.
The theme Vijay is trying to bring to the fore is how human nature has the capacity to change, endure and come out with hope against all odds, just like flowers are symbols of optimism and energy. The paintings are made on wood boards and designed to look like diptych and triptych pieces — where one art work features two or three different panels. The compositions are large as the flowers are blown up in size and represented with contoured lines and chromatic shades. The paintings also include figures of men, women and children whose bodies are made of similar floral motifs.
Techniques such as printmaking, wood cut prints, sculptures and mixed media are all utilised in the works that make up the collection. And it’s the bold colours that stand out, whether it is the deep indigos in Beyond The Edge, rich purples in Floral Love or the bright yellows in Dance Of The Light.
When asked about who his inspirations are, Vijay humbly says he is most inspired by his father. “Though my father was illiterate, he was a man of principles and had a dignified life. The whole village respected
my father and he served as a living example to many. I learnt from my father all throughout my childhood and his teachings and guidance have withstood the test of time, irrespective of place and circumstances. So my inspiration is my father, and of course, mother nature,” he sums up.
July 23 - August 6. At Art Houz, Vasanthnagar
anagha@newindianexpress.com @anaghzzz