Gallery G hosts art exhibition featuring works of artists Shan Re and Romicon Revola
This month, Gallery G is hosting the art exhibition Floral Symphony: A Celebration of Nature's Canvas by artists and mother-daughter duo Shan Re and Romicon Revola. With over 50 works, Floral Symphony pays homage to the beauty of nature and promotes sustainability in the environment.
While Shan Re’s art celebrates the significance of flowers in our ecosystem and her finger-painting technique symbolises our connection with nature, her daughter Romicon Revola's sculptures are inspired by the unity between humanity and nature. We sat down with the duo for a conversation to understand the psyche behind their creations featured at the exhibition.
The series of paintings by Shan Re that are part of the exhibition is titled Nocturnal Blooms. Described as “abstract floral paintings that illuminate the darkness with an ethereal radiance”, the series represents not only the beauty of nature but also the importance of environmental consciousness. “With each canvas, I invite my viewers to journey through a world where flowers awaken under the silvery glow of the moon, weaving a narrative of enchantment and beauty that transcends the boundaries of day and night. This is my tribute to the significance of flowers in our ecosystem and the vital role they play in preserving and creating a sustainable environment,” she says.
The colour palette for the acrylic-on-canvas series includes vibrant and cheerful colours such as shades of blue, orange, pink, red, teal, yellow and the like. However, what stands out the most in this series is the technique, which is finger painting. “This technique is an accidental invention. I started using my fingers one day when the paint fell down on my studio floor. Not wanting to waste the paint, I scooped it up and started to paint. When I use my fingers I feel connected to my inner self. I embrace my artistic intuition without any inhibition. This is a deeply enriching and fulfilling experience for me. Energy flows with the freedom of spontaneity,” she reveals.
Divulging her plans for the near future, the artist mentioned that she is preparing works for a couple of international shows next year. “I am also involved in Art Therapy on a regular basis and through my sessions, I help individuals in self-regulation, rehabilitation and emotional well-being,” she further notes.
For Romicon, however, what stands out in this exhibition is that she is exhibiting her works along with her mother for the first time. Touting the overall theme of the show as “ecological consciousness”, the artist reveals that her sculpture series featuring at the exhibition talks about aligning human consciousness with the natural world and her paintings celebrate the importance of flowers in our ecosystem.
Titled Trilokini and Maya, the series includes two female characters that Romicon has conceived as an iconography for a re-imagined world order. “These characters remind us that we are one with our environment, inseparable from it. By aligning ourselves with the energy of nature, we can fully embody the best of all worlds,” she explains.
To that effect, she uses butterflies as motifs. “Butterflies are a recurring motif in my work. Scientifically, they are considered bio-indicators of the health of an ecosystem. They are highly sensitive creatures and react immediately to even subtle changes in the environment. They are often the first ones to leave if a particular habitat becomes unsustainable,” she tells us.
The sculptures are made of a composite material; fiberglass is the basic material along with recycled fiber and stone powder. For the butterflies, she has used mirror-polished stainless steel with a gold finish. These two materials are not normally used together but the artist developed this technique in 2018 and since then, it has continued to be a part of her vocabulary.
The colour palette for this series is unique to each sculpture and is used to convey a certain mood. For Maya at Dawn, she has used a pastel blue along with shades of orange and gold, which connects to the sun breaking up the early morning sky. In another Maya sculpture, she used red, gold foil and vibrant glass mosaic tiles to convey a sense of grandeur and strength. “For one of the Trilokini sculptures, I have used shades of copper, terracotta and gold to reference the raw earth and rocky terrain. In yet another Trilokini sculpture, I have used shades of blue with gold butterflies to celebrate the colour of flowing waters, rivers and the oceans,” she explains.
The artist works a lot on outdoor sculptures for public spaces, tech parks and other corporate campuses. Currently, she is working on large-scale sculptures for a tech campus in the city. Divulging more about her upcoming projects, she says, “I am also working on a series of small wall-mounted sculptures. Digital art is something I explore on an ongoing basis and by the end of the year, I plan on working on a new series of Augmented Reality artworks.”
Till September 30, 10 am to 7 pm. At Gallery G, Lavelle Road
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