The Seeker of Light - Tom Vattakuzhy (Part 1)

Tom Vattakuzhy – a printmaker, illustrator, painter or rather a story-painter  – is a magnificent human-being first and foremost. Humble, down-to-earth and soft-spoken his works imbue a sense of those traits accompanied by an air of melancholic lyricism with a touch of lustrous, mystic divinity most ethereal. A well-read man with strong and candid views as a detached observer gives him a resilient foothold in our current times when people seem so biased and judging all along. A confident painter who feels that he doesn’t have a way with words and yet when talking to Tom I noticed a unique sense of humour and his way of satire is quite brilliant. He doesn’t mix it up with his emotions. Tom has exhibited widely and has won merits, scholarships and accolades including the State Award - Kerala Lalithakala Akademi Award, AIFACS(All India Fine Arts and Crafts Society) Award, New Delhi and the Haren Das Award, Kolkata. He has been fortunate enough to be guided and moulded by doyens like K G Subramanyan, Somnath Hore and M V Devan. Tom has taught in prestigious institutions before assuming the role of a full-time artist. The most distinguishing feature of his works is the effect of light on the characters and their surroundings. Even an ordinary subject assumes divinity and garners reverence. There is a sense of harmony even amid suffering, a kind of poetic justice seems to be pervading, sometimes pathetic fallacy wherein one finds not only the “aura-emitting-God-like” yet unsure humans but also its most humble animal subjects and inanimate objects. Tom once mentioned that it is 'Humanism' that he is interested in among all –isms and it stands true in his portrayals.

Note: Please click on the images for an enlarged view.

Tom Vattakuzhy

Deepa: How did your journey as an artist begin?

Tom Vattakuzhy: My Journey into an artist’s life was not an easy one. There was no beaten path for me to pursue. So I had to try out different paths as trial and error to reach the field of art. There was generally a lack of orientation and the right people to guide and even if it did, perhaps, the other straitjacketed circumstances wouldn’t have made it possible. So my initiation into art was mostly a fly by the seat of my pants. I, first, did a diploma course from a local art school and then studied at a couple of other art schools, spent a few years doing commission works like portraits, billboards, illustrating periodicals, etc. Later, I got a job as an art teacher and worked for some years and eventually quit my job and joined a bachelor’s degree at Santiniketan. That was in 1991. Completed my Masters from M.S University of Baroda in 1998. In retrospect, I think it is a paradox that I quit my job to study art while many are studying to get a job.

The Seeker of Light - 2
Oil on Canvas-67x61cm

Deepa: You are a print-maker by education. Then why did you shift your focus to painting and illustration? Do you still engage in print-making?

Tom Vattakuzhy: No, I no longer engage in printmaking. True, it was printmaking I did for both graduation and post graduation. I opted it primarily because of my financial constraints. Printmaking was the only less expensive course of study. Painting incurred a lot of expenditure for colour, canvas, and all. Sculpture also was not much different. Money was needed when it comes to casting. With printmaking, I had to bear nothing other than the cost of printing paper. The department would supply the rest. Secondly, printmaking was a discipline I was not at all exposed to and had no clue about its technical nuances. Santiniketan being the premier institution in India that offers a specialization in Printmaking at the graduation level I thought of learning it from there. Thanks to Somnath Hore and his untiring efforts Santiniketan had a well-reputed printmaking department. When I come to think of it, even at the time of Nandalal Bose, prominence was given to printmaking as perhaps they thought of tapping its virtue of multiplicity to make art reach out to more people.  Anyway, my seniors there like K.K. Muhammed, Murali Cheeroth were also there learning printmaking and may have encouraged me at some level.  I did not continue printmaking as on one hand, I felt it is very tiring and taxing and on the other hand well-equipped studios are very few and far between.

Untitled

Etching-50x50cm-1997

Deepa: Is there a narrative in the making even before you start painting or is it more of an intuitive process of evolving?

Tom Vattakuzhy: I think it is difficult to give a linear description of how it happens. When you drive a car, you are not bothered about how or in what all combinations its inner mechanism works to take you where you want to go. It somehow works and you drive, you focus on the road rather than its inner mechanism. So is the case with the working process. However, for me, this intuitive-evolving process happens even before I start painting. I haven’t really investigated how it arises. I then enter into a sort of incubation period and if the urge to paint it still persists in me I set out to make preliminary studies until I feel confident to paint. Even while painting, certain improvisations may happen may be in the colour scheme or in form or in the focus or so. It is an ongoing process until I complete work. I do not approach a canvas with a blank mind and arrive at something in the process of painting.

Evening
Oil on canvas-155x193cm

Deepa: The characters and incidents in your painting seem to be from around you, from your everyday life inclusive of animals as in U. Nandakumar’s story 'Damayanthikkadhakal' and elderly people as in ‘Innale Vannavar’, 'Ninneyorkkunnu Njan' etc. There is a lot of emotion and sensitivity along with a harmonious existence. What makes you choose the subjects? What aspects interest you? Is it because of the stories on which you get to illustrate or are you generally an animal-nature lover? Are you consciously attributing a sense of harmony with an underlying tinge of anguish which is evident in many of your works?

Tom Vattakuzhy: In fact, I approach them as I do a painting; there is not much of an essential conflict either in approach or in the working process. That is why I prefer to call them “story-paintings” rather than illustrations. I do not think of it as a visual translation of a particular scene or character in the story. I tend to go to the essence of it -- the spirit of it, ponder over it – ponder over the impression it has left on me and I start off from there. And in the process, when it comes through me certain elements of ‘me’ will also get mixed with it. And it is perhaps in this mixing or melding that a sense of anguish and what you call, animal-nature love and all come into play. So for me, illustration is a visual supplement or interpretation of the core of the story. And it can have a dual existence. On one level, it can be a stand-alone painting and on the other, when kept alongside the story, it can establish a kind of insightful complementary relationship with one another. The only hitch in doing illustrations is perhaps that there is often a constraint of time; you may not get an unqualified time span to conceive and ponder over a work as you wish; there is always a deadline.

'Damyanthikkadhakal'-Story-painting

Deepa: Now that you mention about the process of illustration, you have illustrated the novels of eminent authors like M T Vasudevan Nair, P. Padmarajan, N.P. Mohammed, C. Radhakrishnan in magazines like Bhashaposhini, Mathrubhumi weekly, even ‘Aithihyamala’. How were these experiences? Do you feel restricted in your work when you illustrate for others? What is your thought about illustration in general?

Tom Vattakuzhy: In fact, illustrations had an immense influence on me in my toddling years in art. I had done a lot of drawings after the works of Namboothiri and A.S. Nair in those days. I suppose anyone of my age with an artistic inclination must have taken a leaf out of their book at some point of time or the other. I was enticed by Namboothiri’s minimal lines evocative of actions, gestures and expressions so effortlessly, while A.S. astonished me with his ability in creating certain feel and mood through his generous seemingly impulsive, unrepressed hatchings. I mention it now from the impression their works left on me long back. They were relatively popular among the common people also. I remember people discussing their drawings in the library in my local town. Then, of course, M.V. Devan was also quite known for his relentless discourses on art and the illustrations he did earlier. Anyway, I am saying all this to point out that illustrating was regarded as a top-tier art practice. And perhaps that was the only thing people got to see as creative in those days. Although the winds of change were slowly forming around the corner, it couldn’t pick its way through the society at large. I began to do Illustrations around 1988 or so. The first novel I illustrated was ‘Karunalayam’ by K.Surendran. Then I continued illustrating for others as you mentioned. Incidentally, I remember the thrill I had when the handwritten letter from the celebrated writer M T reached me inviting me to illustrate in the Mathrubhumi. 

The common practice of illustrating in those days was to draw the characters or scenes or situations described in the literature. So, I also followed suit. Illustrating novels were really challenging because you had to draw often the same characters, the leading ones in the novel, several times and in several situations. What I used to do was to by-heart such characters by drawing them from various angles at the very start itself, so that I could draw them in any way. The only relaxation was when I could move over to other casual characters or situations that I don’t have to repeat. Despite all these, what gave me a ‘kick’ in doing them was the liberty I could take in the drawings. But later on, when my perceptions on art gradually forked off doing illustrations of that mode began to weigh me down; it felt like I have to switch over to another mental framework to do that. So I lost interest and discontinued. Then it was of late I resumed it in a way that does not call for a mental conflict or switching over.

Today, I think there is some discord about the merit of illustrations as fine art among artists. They hold the view that it is a lesser art as the seed of the idea for the work is not purely of the artist, but risen out the story and done with an end to give a visual explanation of the text. So the authenticity of its vision or the artist’s subjectivity is at stake. Yes, coming to think of it in those terms, illustrations may not measure up to the notions of such tight-laced subjectivity. Though we cannot go back in time, it would be amusing to imagine at leisure times what the Masters of European art and Indian Miniature Artists would have done. Anyhow, I guess that art will not sustain without it having a bearing in the society; it cannot just be of a niche group of galleries, dealers and auction houses alone. Art needs to be brought close to life and the ethos of it. So, to that end, to reach out to people, to facilitate visual literacy, I feel illustrations can go a long way. It was with that end I ventured into it in the recent past. Whatever said and done, I hope you won’t fault me in saying that Illustrations bring art to daily life and so it is a form of public art.  But unfortunately, not much enthusiasm is seen in fostering it, even when we lament over the paucity of the public appeal for art. It is often done as an occupation, not as a passion. That is what hampers it. However artists like Bhagyanath, Bara Bhaskaran, Sunil Asokapuram, K sheriff, Devaprakash, etc. are giving a new face to it. Each one has a distinct approach to their work and I think they are bringing a welcome change to it.

An earlier illustration

Deepa: “His works take root from the existential angst especially that of the middle class, upon the present day socio-cultural milieu.” I had read that about you. Would you like to elaborate on that?

Tom Vattakuzhy: I don’t know if it can be taken as an overarching statement to describe my works. But, yes.... there is an undertone of that kind in my works. You also mentioned about the element of anguish in my works while discussing earlier. In my college days, I was drawn to a kind of existential philosophy of some sort and liked the works of Giacometti, Ingmar Bergman, Albert Camus, Hermann Hesse and the like. For example, the lithograph titled ‘Wouldn’t it be the most painful experience, if, in the last moments on the cross you knew that your life, sufferings and torments, were futile?’ had that sort of a bearing. There is a vein of an introspective quest for the meaning or essence of life pulsing through my works. The chasm between the real and ideal, lived and the preached has also been a point of concern leading to the fundamental questions like ’who am I’?

For T. Sreevalson's 'Karppuramanam'

Deepa: I find poetry infused in your paintings - a kind of lyricism juxtaposed with melancholy particularly in “Song of the Dusk” series. Why the melancholic strain? Would you like to talk about the series?

Tom Vattakuzhy: I haven’t done several series of paintings on a particular theme or subject continuously so far. It hasn’t occurred to me that way. I haven’t tried to force it out of me either. I think that is not the way it should be, at least for me. The first painting in that series was done in around 2010 when I was in Qatar. It reminds of the kind of Kafkaesque evenings of loneliness and alienation I got past in the wilderness of the late evening desert. The other one has more connection with my childhood memories. The next one I did in the same title was a large painting. This was at the time the news was rife of a young girl brutally gang-raped and murdered in Delhi in 2012. I used the title ‘Song of the Dusk’ as a generic title for a few of my other works that followed at different times as there was a common thread connecting them on some level. That could be the air of melancholy that permeates in all of them - a melancholy tinged with a sense of eerie but ethereal feel.

Song of the Dusk -3'
Oil on Canvas-232x146cm

Deepa: Some paintings seem to imbue spiritual undertones and you sure have mentioned about your religious upbringing and being inspired by Altarpieces. How much of a religious person are you? What is spirituality according to you? Or are you more of a mystic?

Tom Vattakuzhy: Look, if religions foster humanity, love and compassion, and make our world a better place to live I am religious. The element of spirituality in my art practice is not linked with any religious spirituality, though it involves certain qualities of it. It transfigures the ordinary and integrates with myself and my experiences. It is a personal journey, a meditation, a deep listening to myself and the world around me. It is a spiritual act; it makes you feel as though you are in a timeless personal bubble akin to some images in Hieronymus Bosch’s painting ‘The Garden of Earthly Delight’. It is a kind of search for the essence or meaning beneath the surface of things. In that sense, I am a mystic or aspire to be one.

Vision after the Sermon
Oil on canvas-155x193cm

Deepa: In this context would you like to talk about your “The Mystic” for the intriguing effect it has on the viewer? Is “The Mystic” a story-painting of yours illustrated for any particular story? 

Tom Vattakuzhy: I don’t know what impression the viewers may have on this. They view it the way they like and integrate it with their experiences and visions. I think that is the way it should be. So, experiencing a work of art can also be a form of spiritual, contemplative experience. In fact, talking about the motive, it is my younger son who brought me to paint it. He got an apple snail from the brook beside my house and brought it home. He wanted it to move. It didn’t. He grew impatient. He tried to force open its mouth plate but to no avail. He came to me complaining. I told him to leave it alone undisturbed and watch it patiently. After a while, he grumbled that it is too slow. I calmed him down and told him that it is slow because it probably enjoys and experiences every bit of its journey, every grit of sand it inches on. Perhaps what mattered to the snail was not the end but the journey. This is a little conversation I had with him. I think perhaps the painting grew out of it. I remember what my teacher, K.G.Subramanyan, remarked when asked about the motivation behind his works. He said that the motivation is like a stone thrown to the serenity of a water pool causing a series of waves spreading across it. And what appeals to us is not the stone but the waves it creates. So what matters in a work of art is not the stone but the ripples it creates in the mind of an artist.

No, it wasn’t done as a story-painting. It is confusing, isn’t it? Sometimes viewers have difficulty to discern my paintings from the ones I did for illustrative ends. Since I do not think or approach them differently, it is natural also. But, the medium I use for the story-paintings are often gouache because I can complete a work with a lesser time span.

The Mystic
oil on canvas-116x146cm

Deepa: Getting back to the question of ‘Who am I?’ mentioned earlier, would you relate yourself to being an existentialist? Existentialism vouches for free will and making rational decisions in an irrational world by embracing the nothingness in existence which also involves taking up responsibility for our own actions. You also talked about Hieronymus Bosch’s “The Garden of Earthly Delight” which again points to exercising the free will and its consequences in general terms according to my understanding though it has much deeper sense to it. What I see in your works are more inclined towards the resignation of destiny and an underlying belief in metaphysical principles as opposed to the basic idea of existentialism. Am I wrong in understanding that?

Tom Vattakuzhy: I don’t consciously strive to shoehorn myself into any particular school of philosophical thought. When I paint, I paint; it is an inexplicable intuitive process; it is like a revelation. I haven’t tried to analyze or understand it by the logic of any philosophy as such. However, as you said there may be a sort of metaphysical or transcendental element imbued with an existential attitude in my works. And I assume it might be from the realization that life is so ephemeral or transient like a fleeting light. And that life has no meaning other than the one we give to it. 

'Sakalathinum Porul'-Story-painting-

Deepa: Renaissance influence seems prominent in your works. Would you like to explain why Renaissance in particular?

Tom Vattakuzhy: Coming to think of it, it is not Renaissance art alone I am interested in. I am interested in the works of Pre-Raphaelites, Magic realists, Surrealists, and so on. There is a long list of artists I like. Talking about Renaissance art, there can be remnants of the deep impression it left in me in my adolescent days. Having been a village boy as I am, the chances of getting to see any art in those days were very rare. The museum guide my uncle gave me on his return from Rome with several colour plates of Renaissance art was like a treasure for me. It touched me so deeply. Then a magazine called “Soviet Union” which used to be brought to the local shops chiefly for the purpose of covering the school texts often carried some paintings. This also had an influence over me. When I think of it, there are many memories of that sort. Anyway, what I am trying to say is that the first exposure one gets can have a strong hold on our mind.

Between Strangers
Oil on canvas-148x117cm

Deepa: O yes, on second thoughts your art does relate to Pre-Raphaelites more – the nostalgia and the romanticism, the dreamy yearning like the Pre-Raphaelites, the hues and details, inspired by literature and illustrative in nature.

Tom Vattakuzhy: See, People are free to view it the way they like. And if you discern some closeness on a certain level with the works of Pre Raphaelites I won’t fault you. I like their works - their psychological approach and the kind of soft spiritual tranquillity in them. Especially the works of Rossetti, Edward Brune Jones, etc. can be seen as an example. But I don’t think there is any conscious effort on my part to bring my works in line with theirs. Of course, they are great painters. Their works have a sort of mesmerizing quality and I think a good work of art should have it. It is not about the formal or technical virtuosities of a work of art. I respond to paintings that deal with people and their feelings. As I said earlier, I look at a broad range of painters and I keep adding to it. I don’t have a particular artist or a group to point out as my sole mentor or model. In fact, all artists are my masters, I suppose. There is always something or the other I have learned from them.  If I say a few names from our young practicing artists I like the works of Aji V.N, Umesh, Sujith S.N, Ratheesh T and so on. These are just a few names that popped up in my mind. There are more.

Story-painting(7)

Deepa: You draw inspiration from Masters like Holbein, Klimt, da Vinci, Duchamp, etc. Was there any specific reason/context that inspired you to allude to their works like “The Ambassadors”, “The Kiss”, “The Last Supper” and “Death of Art”?

Tom Vattakuzhy: Actually, all the works, excluding the ‘Death of Art’, were done for illustrative ends. This was a visual strategy I adopted. First of all, certain literature carried an obvious echo of certain paintings, some alluded it while some called forth memories of certain paintings. Illustration being a kind of public art, I thought an allusion to familiar paintings would arouse curiosity to the illustration and thereby to its literature. And then, for the essence or vibrations of different stories are different, there is a perennial need to seek ways and means to capture the feel or experiences that its literature inspires. I took it as a challenging exercise as it helped me in some way to invent certain visual syntax and to widen my visual vocabulary.

Death of Art

Oil on canvas-155x193cm

To be continued

Image courtesy: Tom Vattakuzhy

This interview took place in person where I recorded our conversations (in our native tongue, Malayalam and English) and later I translated-transcribed and edited it.

14 Inspirational Voices - International Women's Day

Today is International Women’s Day. A day to focus on Women’s rights, discrimination against women and girls so on and so forth. In some countries, it is supposed to be a holiday while in most parts it is largely ignored. Though I tend to believe that this happens when we reduce such imperative everyday facets to just one day it also becomes a reminder of the sacrifice and courage the women before us endured and revealed. Each day is a Woman’s day and it is a celebration of her talents, dreams, aspirations, courage, and perseverance. Today in Hues n Shades, I am celebrating it with some super-talented, gorgeous women in the field of arts with their inspirational ‘voices’. They have stood the test of time and defined their sacred space. There are many more women across the globe who inspire one another every day. It is a celebration of all those known and unknown, legends and legends-in-the-making, beautiful souls. It is also a door ajar for the young to stride.

“Feet, what do I need them for if I have wings to fly?” ~ Frida Kahlo

Each woman, today, has the potential to fly, she only needs to realize it. A dream remains a dream when you fail to act upon it and when done alone, the moment you share it with kindred spirits it has the possibility of turning into reality. It becomes a collective dream. Each one of the incredible women has stressed here that nothing should bind us other than our highest inner truth. Each one of us has a heap to offer, it's not mere "ambition"; it's abiding by our inner voice, just being true to ourselves. As Anais Nin points out life does shrink and expand in proportion to one’s courage.

“I matter. I matter equally. Not ‘if only’, not ‘as long as’. I matter. Full Stop” – Chimamanda Adichie

14 Inspirational Voices:

Tanya Abraham - Curator, Kashi Art Gallery/Founder-Director of TAOS | Kochi

"I see art as a means of expression and a tool for change. Creativity is key in the 21st century, to facilitate human expression, understand conceptualization and encourage innovative thinking. We often tend to underestimate the power of the arts. Imagination and Creativity are, in truth, an important part of human life-Just like the need for prayer is. We can’t ignore art. It is a vital component of a healthy human life. When I am able to use art and work with artists to express, create change or to exhibit talent, it empowers me. My work at The Art Outreach Society is the testimony to my belief that creativity can change lives. Art on its own is empowering. When I indulge in it, there arises a sense of satisfaction which emerges from oneness with art."

Seema Kohli – Contemporary Visual Artist | New Delhi

"I think being a woman is just gender and it has made no difference in my perception of art. I paint to introspect, to answer my queries, my quest. But that doesn’t stop viewers or critics to see me as a certain gender. As an artist, I paint the feminine, the energy that is prevalent in all of us and is constantly expanding, creating and positively recreating this and many other universes. I paint the stories of sharing one single womb, through which we all have emerged, we are a part of the same single space having the same consciousness; so why this despair? Why these differences? Why these wars?"

Gitanjali Kolanad - Writer and Choreographer | London

"Art-making, as far as I know, anything about the process, is just a certain mode of attention, not letting the world go by in a stream, but being receptive to what it is always offering, and then letting that elicit wonder, questions, confusion. When I was a dancer that was an awareness from inside a moving body shaping patterns of movement. Now the struggle is to bring sensations into a form that can be put into words. But I still try to stay out of my own way as much as possible, to let forces beyond my conscious control take over. Being a woman is simply how I am an embodied being in the world. I find it impossible to isolate any quality, including in my art making, that is 'me' that is not also 'woman'."

Cecilia Levy – Paper Artist | Sweden

"Art is my life. It’s my passion and what keeps me happy and sane. It’s also my job and the main source of income, which means a somewhat strained economy that can be stressful at times. Being a full-time artist means giving up on the security of employment and a steady income. But it also means doing what you’re best at and loves most. My husband (also an artist) and I made an active choice many years ago. Being a female artist in the contemporary art scene today (how do you see yourself): The internet has brought the art world to me and my art into the world. Without social media I don’t think I could have persevered, my audience is mainly international. I’m extremely grateful for the internet, FB and IG. I am grateful every day for being able to do what I do, being exactly where I am, right here, right now. This fills me with immense joy. "

Ruchika Wason Singh - Visual Artist, Independent Researcher and the Founder of A.M.M.A.A | New Delhi 

"As a woman, an artist and a mother, I see my identities intertwined. My struggle has been to find a balance between the artistic and the personal domains in my life. This had led me to initiate A.M.M.A.A. Through my project A.M.M.A.A. - The Archive for Mapping Mother Artists in Asia, I seek to find space for voicing maternal experiences, creating opportunities and platforms for modules of art, for myself and for others. These modules are structured to encourage mother artists, whose commitments to their families require a more flexible model of creative platforms, which A.M.M.A.A. is aimed at. Through mapping, visibility and mobility, A.M.M.A.A. seeks to empower the female artists in Asia and those of the Asian diaspora."

Wyanne Thompson – Artist | Atlanta-U.S

"For me, Art is my way of life. It takes care of me, heals me and allows me to share myself with the world. I’ve worked as a full-time artist for the past 25 years. I never paid much attention or thought much about being a “female artist”. I know many would argue that there has not been enough focus on female artists. And I have seen it first hand in the contemporary art world. But, for me...I never really identified as a “female artist”. I have just always felt that I was an artist, and gender was not an issue. I consider myself lucky to do what I love every day. It feeds my soul and empowers me. I feel that art had a direct influence on my ability to fight and beat cancer. It is my passion and my healer, and fulfillment. Then to be able to share my art with others for them to experience, has to be one of the greatest gifts I’ve ever experienced."

Dr. M.Balamani - Art Historian-Critic & Cultural Analyst | Baroda

"I started learning painting as a hobby by the time my children started going to school. Incidentally, I learned about Art History & Aesthetics, a specialized subject in this field and joined the Master’s curriculum immediately. Whether field has accepted my writings on art as an art critic or the writing on art is suitable to my aptitude I have no idea. Thinking and writing about art, talking and lecturing about art has been taking me to those undiscovered thoughts of my heart. I started enjoying deeply. It has given me the opportunity to excel in academics too to acquire my doctorate degree combining Art, Culture and day to day aesthetics of life. Years passed and I never realized how many miles I crossed in this path and would love to walk many more such wonders of art."

Radha Gomaty – Painter, Sculptor, Creative Strategist, Writer | Kochi

"INTENSE ENLIVENMENT … those acutely inhabited moments, sharply lived, that came like epiphanies or visitations. This is the same creative zone that both precedes and permeates any artistic work process. It is inherent in the very Ground of just being Alive.  Art is just another one of its many subsets. Today I stand affirmed in my instinctive knowledge that Art is not necessarily objects-painting, music, sculpture, films...whatever it may be that one makes. Art is that process by which one keeps one's being in sparkling order, vulnerable receptive open cleared backed with the courage to walk the thin line, no matter what the circumstance. If one accomplishes this hack, then one can do anything with it or just be ...No matter what one does with it, there is this strong possibility that it invariably will be powerful, beautiful, inspiring and deeply effective."

Liz Ramos-Prado – Visual Media Artist | Peru

"For me, art is an essential component of our lives; it is a powerful force of expression and communication that drives emotion, ideas and intention in all of its different manifestations. In a world where individuality and the egocentric notion of “self” reign, Arts contribute to creating a sense of identity, questioning our condition of humans and reminding us the importance of being genuinely connected as a society. As an artist, I see myself as a contributor, a provider. I feed myself from nature, people, all the surrounding and life experience itself. Through my pieces, I look to enable people to connect with my works in an exercise of self-reflection about specific matters that will bring a more open dialogue. I look for the singular changes; if my work moves or produce a significant emotion to one single person, then I feel accomplished, that empowers me." 

Nalini Malaviya - Art Consultant, Curator, Writer, Author@Art Scene India | Bengaluru

"I see art as a tool for education, and as a means to spark creativity and innovation. Integrating art appreciation in the school curricula and in a viable form in the work environment can enhance creativity and facilitate the process of learning as well. As a consultant and curator, I work with galleries, contemporary artists and corporates on art projects, which broadly involves conceptualization, curation and writing. I see myself as an enabler – bridging the gap between art, artists and connoisseurs. I read somewhere that when you are offered an interesting opportunity, first say yes and then figure out how to go about it, and I follow that. I try to push myself outside my comfort zone with every new project and to learn along the way. The world is evolving so rapidly and there are new technologies and modalities of working that it is important to stay abreast. I feel, a constant focus on learning can be very empowering, and productive from a career perspective too."

P S Jalaja – Artist | Kochi

"For me, art does not stem from something fictitious but it ensues from the thoughts of our own objective-contemporary lives and the history-experiences of our own times. Research is the most important aspect of my work. It is in continuum with this research that prompts me to investigate my identity as an artist in this social system. It paves the way to understand the secondary status of women, to revolt against the power politics of authority for equal rights by being part of the sorority/community. I engage in compassionate experiments trying to stamp the circumstances, disasters, migrations, celebrations, assaults that people across the globe endure which is portrayed in my “Aalkootam” (Gathering) series. Boundaries are created by man for man. Wars, racial issues, caste-creed insurgencies, civil wars happen across the world and we witness history being repeated sometimes bloodier than before. I would like to appraise my art in the context of social responsibility. Art happens to be my medium where I move from one work to another with the intention of leading it to a healthy discussion of advancing to a different world unitedly and well-planned with love and imagination."

Ruby Jagrut – Artist, Natural Dyes exponent, Trustee Abir | Ahmedabad

How does your gender matter when it comes to art! I think we all have to do our journey on our own. Art has the power to bind us irrespective of everything. Art is largely the manifestation of emotions, experiences and ideas one feels. Contemporary art has broken stereotypes and moved away from traditional ways of expression. Art can’t be seen in isolation from oneself. I found my solace in paintings and the process of extracting colour out of vegetables and minerals. I find it therapeutic. The subtleness of colour keeps me amused every time I paint. I am available to my canvas with my vulnerabilities, childlike eagerness and honesty. We have to constantly seek inspiration, be greedily aware and available to our environment. Earning about new pigments, experimenting with new ideas empower me. Reading, listening to music, dancing and indulging with different art form helps me understand the complexity of the expression.

Priti Vadakkath – Visual Artist | Kochi

Art is a means of self-expression and communication. The process is also highly therapeutic for me, often my essential toolkit for survival. I am an artist because I have something to say, something to contribute to in the discussion and probably influence or convince my audience. There are varied roles I assume every day - as a mother, a wife, a daughter, a caregiver to a child with special needs. I believe all my ideas come from within and is informed by my immediate family, environment and the social context of my existence. Within all these spaces that I occupy, is an artist who interacts with, extracts from, and intervenes in society through her art and in doing so I continue to find fulfillment and empowerment.

Marie-Noëlle Wurm – Artist, Illustrator, Art Teacher | France

A big part of my process is trying to get to the truths at our core: connected to a natural world that is so much bigger than us, and to an infinite richness within—our capacity for self-awareness, for creativity, for growth. Art is an emotional language that connects us more deeply to ourselves, including the parts we shy away from: the sadness, the fear, the hurt—and shining a light on the darkness is how we transcend it. I’m able to do so much more than most women have, across millennia or around the world. I don’t take that for granted. I create art to give space to emotions, to our hidden selves—to reclaim space, a voice, a self. I try to speak my truth, and my life as a woman will always inform that truth. My hope is that it will inspire others to speak theirs. Art is a deeply personal journey but it’s also deeply universal—and that’s why it’s so powerful. In my own way, I try to honor that.

Let me conclude with these short verses:

Body as a Mediating Element - Murali Cheeroth on Performance Art (Part 2)

This is the second part of the interview that was published last week. Click HERE to read the First part.

Murali Cheeroth

Deepa: I am reminded of the performances of Marina Abramovic. The ones I have seen most is perhaps hers. Whether it’s with Ulay in “Rest Energy” or “Rhythm 0” and all her other performances she places herself in situations of extreme endurance, the acceptance of physical violation as if she wants to test how much self-affliction can be endured; the limit of it.

M.Cheeroth: Performance art has various traditions in it. The works of Abramovic and Patty Chang are mostly issues related to gender, spiritualism and matters connected to that. I would like to recount one of the recent accounts of a Russian activist-performance artist, Petr Pavlensky. People usually notice a protest when it’s done collectively as a mass. Here, it just shows how an individual can make a powerful impact with Pavlensky’s nude performance in front of the Russian Secretariat by nailing his testicles to the Red Square. It is a challenge to the police and the officials and the law and justice. The life of the artist is perilously at stake. People like Pavlensky cannot be moved, a mass can be made to flee by firing or something but to move someone like Pavlensky the nail has to be pulled out. This single performance made the world aware of those critical issues and triggered the discussion internationally. At another instance, he also performed by wrapping himself with barbed wires and the police couldn’t do a thing to remove him which obviously wasn’t an easy task. They had to bring cutting tools to release him out. He is single-handedly and powerfully challenging the State and the System. From mass-level to individual-level, the protest turned out to be a potent one in recent times. The performance is called “Man and Might”. There are many cases registered in Pavlensky’s name in many countries. I would say he is one of the great role models and inspiration. Such prevailing impact can be brought about only through performance and is not possible through some other medium like painting.

Deepa: Physicality, being in the moment, temporal and immediate are some of the key factors to the soul of this form. How do you think that this art would withstand the test of time? Do you believe in leaving such footprints? (Of course, there’s videography yet...there’s a kind of ephemeral aspect to it.).

M.Cheeroth: I don’t believe in documenting and archiving my work, but, it happens, as part of the current technological era we are living in.

From Colombo Art Biennale 2016

Deepa: Depending on what you explained earlier about body and space, all the components that you mentioned were realized in “Memoir/Collecting the Artists”, it probably came a full circle there. Tell us something about that performance of yours held in the Kerala Museum.

M.Cheeroth: That was one of my favourite performances. When I started it out I never knew that it would take such an innovative intensity. As a student, I thought I will do what I can when the Kerala History Museum reached out to me and not many art collectors were there at that point in time when we started. During those days, the idea of contemporary art museum did not exist in Kerala. There are many personal notes too like with Somnath Hore, K G Subramanyan, Ganesh Pyne. Beyond that, the relationship with all these artists was a great learning experience and they had provided qualitative time which aided my personal growth as well. It all started with my connection there.

We never knew the business aspect of the museum at that point. But when the concept of the museum was beginning to take shape for the first time in Kerala, we were pretty excited. My relationship with, be it the Founder of the Museum or the artists they were more on a personal level than as a mere mediator. Mr. Madhavan Nayar was said to be a strict person but with us, he was always simple. In our early days, he used to place the money in between the pages of the books and used to gift it on occasions instead of handing it over by hand. He used to extend that kind of respect to us. It was after 10-20 years that the Curator asked to present a program where I was to talk about the works presented in the Museum since I was part of establishing it. It was then the performance evolved and I thought about how to bring about freshness and a variation in presenting it and the ‘Walk Through’ materialized.

Not many artists have been part of such museum production initiatives, luckily I got such a chance and to reinvent such a space with the curator. There didn’t arise any need to discuss the process on how to go about it because all these works went through our hands during the selection itself and so it did have our aesthetics, negotiations and encounters. Each work had its own story to narrate and I just used that poetically, that’s all. The audience was a part of it and probably the audience turned out to be more of a performer than I was. The entire story took one hour and no one left in between and later everyone, even many artist friends approached and appreciated me. It was autobiographical and I have used a story-line that not many people knew about. The mindset of the collector, how artists finally bring their work to the museum collection; I was able to tap into their heart-beat and gain insight into it by being part of the selection process. With that insight, I, as a performer, was trying to reinterpret and retell that entire story. It was more like a continuous engagement with space and art objects as well as reinventing the entire narration of making a museum with museum painting being part of it along with the beauty and pain of art making. Now, I have an existence as a performer as well apart from being a selector.

('Memoir/Collecting the Artists' - the performance walkthrough can be viewed in these links - Memoir-Part1 and Memoir-Part2 by Madhavan Nayar Foundation)

 From Memoir at Kerala Museum, Edapally

Deepa: Do you feel that an artist is a conduit?

M.Cheeroth: More than having a kind of feel, it’s continuously having that kind of experience. When you see the artwork and when doing the artwork, there arises a creative surplus...that surplus is what takes you from a conceived idea to an explorative state. If that surplus isn’t there, then it would only make the work dry. That creative surplus is what gives us delight. The continuous activation of this experience is what makes the artist vibrant and on the move.


Deepa: Is it painting or performance where you feel more at ease with the artist in yourself?

M.Cheeroth: Painting is a studio based activity and in that studio-based activity, during the preparation, probably I am a performer. Once the painting goes out of your hand, I am just a person responsible for its creation. But as a performer, you are in the complete experience of it. The success and failure that you encounter in performance are not the same when it comes to painting. There’s a natural element of performance in the preparatory process of painting; you become emotionally engaged and that is translated in the work as well. But once it is packed and leaves the gallery, the engagement ends and the translation comes to a halt. As a performer, the engagement is possible anytime, anywhere. Also, we can bring about all the political dialogues in our performance.

In one of my performances at the Morni Hills Biennale, I used my bag which I had been using for some months with all the bills and tablets and everything else stacked in there. I just emptied the contents onto the table for the audience - for them to see all the objects used during all that time – each object, the imagination of objectifying and how it politically influences my life and the consequent evaluation of why it’s being used like why am I using ayurvedic tablet and negating allopathic medicine? How I organically conserve my body? etc. We can create many such dialogues.

Deepa: Tell us something about “Mind Games”, your recently held show in New Delhi?

M.Cheeroth: It was part of the group show called “Voiceover” curated by Meena Vari. The protagonist is me and it is a faithful search of self-awareness in an urban landscape representing a character who looks back at a lifetime of political activism and politically intrinsic life; a perspective. Images hover in the mind and hence the name. It predominantly questions the political situation of the times.

Pages from my Silent Mind Games/5.6x14ft/Acrylic on canvas/2018

Deepa: You completed your MFA in Santiniketan. The system there is entirely different from the regular fine arts colleges anywhere in India (though the scenario is changing now). How different is it do you think? What is your thought on the current educational scenario particularly with respect to Fine Arts? How engaging and enriching is the teaching-learning process today? Are the students well-equipped to start a career in their chosen path by the time they step out of the colleges?

M.Cheeroth: It’s a really good question. These days I am working a lot at an educational level particularly in architecture. This is a time when we are reinventing and bringing together the basic foundation courses in architecture trying to bring about a difference. In many schools where I have taught, we have brought together 2-3 subjects, integrated it and have come up with a Common Integrated Studio. The base for all these springs from Santiniketan. There we were continuously questioning dialectic and materialistic values of life. If we fail to process that we would never be able to stay there even for a month. Instead, we need to focus on the learning process, learning from life - each and every observation like even the dropping of a flower while walking can cause a lovely sensation and how the sun lights up the land each morning. Throughout the year even in summer, you will find flowers there. In each season the landscape responds and it is manifested beautifully. We enjoyed this during our education there and this experience enriched us once we left the place and provided a positive learning state.

Teachers like KGS, Somnath Hore, Nirmalendu Da have helped us to clear our day-to-day confusions and dialogues that now we can clearly capture the basic skill set, Knowledge, conceptual areas etc. needed for the overall development of a student. This is one of the greatest endowments received from Santiniketan and it is the product of the educational quality of Santiniketan. When we look at micro-macro family setups, these days, in nuclear families communications, challenges, critical meetings, cognitive aspects etc. within the family being absent raises the students to be selfish. Being brought up in such nuclear families makes the students lack social challenges, critical thinking and the like. So when such students enter a college for education and are in this space, they tend to respond negatively from the onset because they may not be able to mingle properly, may lose spontaneity to act and many would have cognitive behavioral disorders - they may be dyslexic, many suffer from insomnia. To some students, the impact of “No” also takes on a dangerous one as they fail to realize the real sense of it. So we need to coordinate really smoothly and well to bring together architectural design and art because architecture and art have the ability to engage...through this engagement the critical thinking, evading social fears, taking up challenges, cognitive development, imagination, etc. can be nurtured. It is based on this study the first year foundation course has been co-ordinated. 

It has been found successful and is being appreciated by many major architectural institutions and we have been called for presentations. People have started realizing the importance and value of such an education. That recognition has been possible because of Santiniketan. Whatever flaws were there in our (Kerala’s) art educational system at that time – the merits and demerits – and what to rectify were also made aware because of Santiniketan. It is an institution that has stood the test of time and has contributed immensely.

From Colombo Art Biennale 2016

Deepa: One performance of yours that had the greatest impact on your art and life (probably it was the most critical one in your life that changed your perspective, your insight, your root deepened in the field) and a performance of another artist that influenced you the most?

M.Cheeroth: Boris Nieslony, Petr Pavlensky – he has greatly influenced me; immensely daring, Patty Chang, Marina Abramovic to a certain extent, Joseph Beuys’ contribution is huge...it’s extremely difficult to pinpoint one. Performance art can’t be anchored at a single point within a structure. Performance art that is connected to activism is what interests me more and not just a body expressing. It needs to propagate and carry forward ideas.

Regarding mine, there are many instances that really influenced me...in one of the public spaces during a performance in Chandigarh, the urban crowd challenged a lot entering into the space, and causing a lot of disturbance but the security guards who watched it all later came, hugged me and said, “You did well that such matters are brought to light in public. It’s a huge thing.” The way they hugged and mentioned that moved me.  Similarly in Bengaluru too, after a performance, some people from the audience and a caretaker and his family from the nearby construction building came and appreciated a lot. There have been many such beautiful moments and experiences when least expected people approach you. Many often come and ask questions too. With each performance, we become a different person. We get to know ourselves more. We realize that every stance, our body, every minute expression, even silence has so much importance attached to it and can be read closely as well. It is amazing actually.

Deepa: In your own words “Building up art practice as a sustainable livelihood model in a country where art market conditions are not very favourable / supportive to young budding artists was the most difficult challenge that me or any Indian artist face.” What else would you like to add to it?

M.Cheeroth: I think I will go back to one of my favourite teachers, Somnath Hore, who once asked my plan after BFA. I said that I may look for a job or that I may join MFA. To which he replied (the gist of which was something like) - Do your work. Work is important. Everything else should coincide with your work; work until you gain that consciousness. Only then will you realize that our life moves forward accordingly. When you indulge in other meaningless things, you deviate from art. Art is our constant companion, our friend...work until it becomes that.

Format your life accordingly and it will move forward consequently. When you start realizing that, you will understand that the greatest thing in your life is how you synchronize your entire life with that activity. Once you get that, your life will go on smoothly. That is where day-to-day challenges and sustainability arise.  I have noticed one thing be it KGS or Somnath Hore, they will be working all day long in their studios. Anybody who requires their assistance approaches them in their studios. They don’t move out. To make art a way of life is the greatest challenge and not how many likes one gets on Facebook, or your picture in the newspaper, or the number of shows one has been part of. Art is always there with you everything else that appears in Page 3 is transient.

Still from the recent video ‘The Pledge’

Deepa: What are the new works you are engaged in right now?

M.Cheeroth: I am engaged in painting right now. Performances are also on the way. I was part of the discussions at the Mathrubhumi Literature Festival that was held recently in Thiruvananthapuram.  It was about the political challenges of our times.
I have been invited to B V Doshi’s Vastu Shilpa Foundation who will be conducting an International Studio with students from the University of Michigan and from India. The Studio is entitled "At the Cusp of Land and Water". It’s from 26 to 28 Feb and from 4 to 6 March 2019.

You can reach Murali Cheeroth at cheerothmurali@gmail.com

I am assured that this interview will be beneficial to all the students of art who wish to know about this genre and to the fellow artists and of course everyone else who would like to have an idea of what goes on in the art world particularly the work and process of an eminent artist like Murali Cheeroth.

Part of this conversation was by email and part of it was recorded which was then translated, transcribed and edited by me. Thanks to Murali Cheeroth, for the enlightening conversation that made this interview possible.  I sincerely hope that I have been able to do complete justice here. 

Hope you found this interview useful and informative. You can send your feedback to mail.huesnshades@gmail.com.

This interview was recorded from our phone conversations (in our native tongue, Malayalam and English) and later I translated-transcribed and edited it.

Image courtesy: Murali Cheeroth