CHENNAI: V Anamika is a thinking person. At any given time, she is constantly pondering over a variety of observations she makes. She finally sits down with a canvas, as ultimately that’s where all her answers lie. “It’s a moment of consciousness. I tend to push all my boundaries in the process of my art and awaken to some truly enlightening moments,” she says.
Dressed in a simple white kurta and trousers with a little black bindi accurately placed in between her brows, the artist lights up when she talks about her latest series of works — More than Once. “It has in reality been an evolution of sorts; just what I like my art to do. You can see this artistic transformation unfolding before your eyes as you observe my very first works and the most recent ones on display,” she says.
In More than Once Anamika plays with the ‘circle’ or the ‘dot’ and presents them with elements of colour repetition, illusion and pattern. A thought process that triggered off with some curious questions on religion in India gave rise to artistic material. “Chanting a mantra for instance is meant to transform your being to another state, just as rosary beads or japa malas do. To me, it all leads to a circle of repetition and meditation. As a modern artist, I wanted to build on this idea and give a physical shape to it,” says Anamika. Tiny circles have been painstakingly placed in symmetry on large canvases and explore the myriad possibilities that could blossom on the canvas. Every circle then becomes powerful, adding its own unique character to the larger image. A self-confessed Rajini fan, Anamika has even dedicated a work to the ‘Superstar’ wherein she expresses how the actor’s 80’s and 90’s image still remains her only memory of him.
More than Once is on display at Focus Art Gallery, 11, Bishop Wallers Avenue, (Off TTK Road), CIT Colony, till October 30.