CHENNAI: Awood-work-based art piece portraying people crowding around a water truck to buy water, a fallen tree in the shape of a water droplet — these are some of the artworks that will be on display at artist Vijay Pichumani’s solo show ‘(IM)possibilities’ at Art Houz, Nungambakkam. In his latest offering, the recipient of National Award for Woodcut Print 2015, will be focusing on Tamil Nadu’s acute drought situation through visual imagery.
“I like to go on road trips on my motorbike. In the last year, I travelled to many places across Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Wherever I went, I observed there was water crisis. In places like Nagercoil and other smaller towns, I found people standing in line to buy water. The water situation is pathetic. This exhibition focuses on this dire situation,” says the 32-year-old.
The exhibition will feature 13 wood-work installations on the theme of water shortage. “All the carvings were made in a year,” he says.
The show is titled (IM)possibilities as the artist feels everything in the world is possible if we work towards it. This is his way of creating awareness among people and finding a solution to the problem.
According to Vijay, the water crisis has led to commercialisation of the elixir of life. He says, “Companies are tapping on this crisis. Go to the hinterlands of Tamil Nadu, you’ll find water being sold for `5 per barrel.”
He primarily uses wood as his medium because he feels it will keep him close to nature. This exhibition, he says, will be a clarion call and will show why we are in this situation. “People have only been taking from nature and not doing their duty as citizens to protect it,” he shares.
Vijay feels that man’s greed and his habit of moving on without looking back, reflecting upon what he has done is why everyone is in this situation. “The exhibition will showcase everything I have observed in the last one year while travelling through the hinterlands of Tamil Nadu,” he says.
A preview of his artworks will be open to public on October 11 at 6.30 pm. His complete work will be displayed between October 12 and October 31 between 11 am and 7 pm at Art Houz, Nungambakkam.