CHENNAI: While for many, art is a meditative process in itself, artist Pratiksha Apurv uses painting as a medium of expression for her spiritual insights. Aptly titled Spiritual Odyssey, the expo with figurative oil and acrylic on canvas is a clear departure from the school of thought that explores spirituality most often represented through abstracts.
Spiritual leader Osho's niece, Pratiksha does look upon her art as the natural medium to put her meditative insights on print, and says her art is all about completely transforming on canvas an image imprinted in her mind after meditation. A self-taught artist, who uses techniques that include the ever-alluring optical illusion, she says she is often unaware of these forms she has deployed, which are clear visions she gets. ''I didn't know this was called optical illusion until art students in Delhi pointed it out to me,'' she says, pointing to a painting titled Kundalini , which shows a girl in the meditative pose. It's hard to miss the background work, which is an interpretable kaleidoscope of colours to form an optical illusion.
Large religious symbols and chants find their way into her paintings, from the swastika to the most common Om and horoscope patterns. Direct references to religion are also made in paintings like the one showing a Muslim in namaaz, while others take on a subtler spiritual note.
Spiritual Odyssey is as much about the prime focus of the painting as it is of the peripheral embellishments. Take for example the Aura, in which the 12,000 Oms weaved into a design are as significant as the deity Ganesha that occupies the centre. ''I like intricate work,'' she then explains, a quality, she attributes to being a former fashion designer, whose creations have been donned by the who's who, from former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to young models.
Given the conditions the artist gets her muse from, it's easy to see sermonising as the predominant subject. And in that regard, the artist doesn't disappoint. Her Here and Now, an oil and acrylic on canvas is a clear message for people as they've just entered a New Year.
It has a lady in brighter tones revelling in what the situation has to offer, while the background is actually a calendar of 2008, the year that just ended.
What makes the art exhibition, on until January 11 at Lalit kala Akademi, worth a watch is the degree of intricacy that goes into the paintings, oozing life lessons in themselves.
This is Pratiksha Apurv's first exhibition in Chennai.
sharadha@epmltd.com CHENNAI: While for many, art is a meditative process in itself, artist Pratiksha Apurv uses painting as a medium of expression for her spiritual insights. Aptly titled Spiritual Odyssey, the expo with figurative oil and acrylic on canvas is a clear departure from the school of thought that explores spirituality most often represented through abstracts.
Spiritual leader Osho's niece, Pratiksha does look upon her art as the natural medium to put her meditative insights on print, and says her art is all about completely transforming on canvas an image imprinted in her mind after meditation. A self-taught artist, who uses techniques that include the ever-alluring optical illusion, she says she is often unaware of these forms she has deployed, which are clear visions she gets. ''I didn't know this was called optical illusion until art students in Delhi pointed it out to me,'' she says, pointing to a painting titled Kundalini , which shows a girl in the meditative pose. It's hard to miss the background work, which is an interpretable kaleidoscope of colours to form an optical illusion.
Large religious symbols and chants find their way into her paintings, from the swastika to the most common Om and horoscope patterns. Direct references to religion are also made in paintings like the one showing a Muslim in namaaz, while others take on a subtler spiritual note.
Spiritual Odyssey is as much about the prime focus of the painting as it is of the peripheral embellishments. Take for example the Aura, in which the 12,000 Oms weaved into a design are as significant as the deity Ganesha that occupies the centre. ''I like intricate work,'' she then explains, a quality, she attributes to being a former fashion designer, whose creations have been donned by the who's who, from former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to young models.
Given the conditions the artist gets her muse from, it's easy to see sermonising as the predominant subject. And in that regard, the artist doesn't disappoint. Her Here and Now, an oil and acrylic on canvas is a clear message for people as they've just entered a New Year.
It has a lady in brighter tones revelling in what the situation has to offer, while the background is actually a calendar of 2008, the year that just ended.
What makes the art exhibition, on until January 11 at Lalit kala Akademi, worth a watch is the degree of intricacy that goes into the paintings, oozing life lessons in themselves.
This is Pratiksha Apurv's first exhibition in Chennai.
sharadha@epmltd.com