To think of Ahalia Heritage Village and not associate it with Varma Sir or Devan Sir is impossible. This week, Devan Sir is joining us to share his thoughts and experiences and above all his art which is magnanimous in itself. He is a self-taught contemporary artist who easily fuses folklore and folk style into his art with such ease and grace that it's so interlaced into an effective narrative style. He is not only an amazing artist but a fabulous and generous human being too. I am super glad to introduce Devan Sir to my dear friends and readers in my space, Hues n Shades.
Deepa: Firstly, as the tradition
goes, please give us a brief about yourself.
DM: I was born and brought up in a Namboodiri
(Brahmin) family in Ottapalam, Kerala. I studied up to Pre-degree and soon after
started to work in sales and marketing for a living. I remember my childhood
days as difficult periods.
Art was always in my veins. My great grandfather
and one of his brothers were artists. I think of it as a continuation of their
gifts in me. From childhood days, I drew. But during my ‘salesman period’ I did
nothing important. After 15 years of
working as a salesman, I resigned and got into the world of arts and that was
in 1990. I am basically a self-taught artist; I went to Kanoria Centre for
Arts, in Ahmedabad and took a foundation course of drawing and painting though.
Deepa: Tell us something about your work and association with
Ahalia Heritage Village. What is the one thing that you enjoy the most in
Ahalia and why? You
organize various workshops with artists all over the country. What is it that
you relish and learn from these memorable events?
DM: In Ahalia
Heritage Village, in Palakkad, I am experiencing a new kind of work. We, the
Team, together are recreating and converting a barren land to an art village. Ahalia
organizes various workshops with artists all over the country. I am learning
from these memorable events on how to develop as an organizer and studying on
their working methods. Actually the mural I did in Ahalia is based on the tribal
life and culture.
Ahalia Heritage Village
Deepa: The mural art that you have worked on in Ahalia is one of a
kind with elements of nature in it. It portrays a serene and harmonious
existence that we so wish in today’s wild world. What was your intention behind
that creation?
DM: Since Ahalia is a heritage village where we wanted to
preserve folk elements of art, we decided to go with that kind of theme. It has
folk art and nature which is inseparable.
Deepa: You are an extremely talented artist yourself. What
inspires you the most and stirs your creative juices?
DM: I don’t think I am ‘an
extremely talented artist.’ But talented, yes. What inspires me is Nature. Books
and my journeys are my other inspirations.
Deepa: Folk
art has found a new direction in your art, if I may say so. There are also the
vast green landscapes and cool blue water bodies, what inspired you to merge all
these elements together to bring about an art tale of your own?
DM: In my childhood days,
I felt lonely. That loneliness gave me a friend - Nature. Nature inspired me to
draw. My experiences and some motifs from nature became part of my paintings.
My paintings are my stories. My narrative style is created with the mural
tradition and miniature styles of India.
Devan Sir's mural in Ahalia Heritage Village
Deepa: There is a sort of simplicity and yet an enticing
depth to it…as if there are layers to your paintings... Your signature! May we
know your thoughts on it?
DM: Almost every painting and drawing I did is
simple but in the depth they lead to a mood of sadness. This is because my
thoughts lead me to contemplate on my memories. Actually memories are a great
influence in my works.
Deepa: Monochromes seem to be a recurring process…is that deliberate?
Deepa: Monochromes seem to be a recurring process…is that deliberate?
DM: My drawings,
especially pencil, and some paintings are always monochromatic. That is not
deliberate. My childhood days were colourless. So the memories are the reasons
behind the style. Colour came to my life after many years. Then I began to
experiment with colour.
Deepa: You work with different
mediums…which is your preferred medium though?
DM: My preferred medium is Pencil.
Deepa: It is difficult to point to one and say “I
just loved it!”…there are a lot of personal favourites for me in your
collection. The diptych and triptych are lovely works, while ‘Rain and the
Boats’ suggests nostalgia, ‘The Antique Collector’, ‘Death of a Salesman’ is an
intriguing piece, ‘The Birds have no Reflection’ has a childish charm with an
interesting edge to it, ‘The Smoker and the Crows’ has an eerie touch to it,
while ‘Jobs of an Elephant’ points out a satirical element…there are lot of
personal nuances in your paintings. Which is your personal favourite and why?
DM: In my works, many are my personal favourites.
You mentioned some of them. Every work is my memory. In one way or other, they
are attached to me. ‘Rain and the Boats’ was a childhood memory. In ‘Antique
Collector’, I am the protagonist. ‘The death of a Salesman’ is based on my
salesman period. ‘The Birds have no reflection’ is simply a childish dream. In
‘Smoker and the Crows’, the smoker is one of my friends. He was sitting quietly
in Cholamandal Artists Village and smoking, at the same moment the crows came
to his side and befriended him. ‘Jobs of an Elephant’ are from my journeys;
what I saw.
Deepa: Who is/are your personal favourite(s)? Also,
whose work(s) hang in your living room?
DM: My personal favourites are many, from Europe to
India. There are no works in my living room though because I don’t have a
living room as I reside in an ancestral home which doesn’t have that concept of
a living room.
Deepa: What would be your most important advice to
aspiring artists? Any tip or technique that you would like to share with the
readers?
DM: My advice is to aspiring artists is to draw, draw,
draw, and study different techniques of usage of pencil.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/madangarly
Thank you Devan Sir for your time. It was an immense honour to have you here and share your art and thoughts. Wishing you the very best in all your future endeavours and years of happiness!
Friends, hope you all enjoyed the first of MAA (Meet An Artist) of 2015. Do keep visiting and leave your thoughts... appreciate it a lot!
Good Day!
pic courtesy: Devan Madangarly
Note: Do not use these images without the written consent of the artist. Please honour the rights of the artists'.
Please do not use/reproduce the content (words as well as images) without the written consent of the author.
Note: Do not use these images without the written consent of the artist. Please honour the rights of the artists'.
Please do not use/reproduce the content (words as well as images) without the written consent of the author.
stories of how people follow their passion against all odds are always inspiring. wonderful read such stories in your space!
ReplyDeleteWOWO... thank you so much for introducing such a good artist .. and lovely interview tooo
ReplyDeleteBikram's
Wonderful interview and powerful paintings! Thanks for sharing, Valerie
ReplyDeleteHi Deepa. Devan is a wonderful artist. Great job Devan! Great interview as well.
ReplyDeleteThank you for introducing such a gifted artist, Deepa.
ReplyDeletethese are remarkable ! I feel like I've just had the pleasure of walking through a gallery. Thank you for taking the time to share with us such a talented artist!
ReplyDeleteImpressed by your effort chechi.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this post. I did not know of this heaven and divine personality.
Sukhi
I loved the paintings...just intrigued by how much they say through their work.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Devan Sir!
What a lovely set of paintings!
ReplyDeleteVery impressive, I'm wondering how people religiously follows their passion. Good one...
ReplyDeleteBeautiful work of arts.
ReplyDeleteAmazing art work!
ReplyDeleteI wish the project a huge success!
Such wonderful art. Really a visual treat.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing :)
All artists are so lonely!
ReplyDeleteAppreciate your effort to introduce artists through your blog.
ReplyDeleteTrue, memories influence an artist a lot. Loved that "Doll in the basket".
All the best Devan Madangarly Sir.