Artist in architect comes to the fore
HYDERABAD: The urge to create is innate in all human beings and if tapped correctly, it becomes a liberating experience for the artist trapped in all of us. The examples of Pablo Picasso, or for that matter Rabindranath Tagore, are shining examples of how creativity can sparkle at any age. While Picasso started flourishing in the arts at a tender age, Rabindranath Tagore, on the other hand, took to the brush almost when he was 60. Therefore, age has nothing to do when it comes to expressing oneself and take the road to one’s destiny’s calling.
So when Ashok Kumar Guda, an architect by profession and an artist by choice, mounted his solo exhibition of Impasto Expressions, he reminds us of the fact that seeking to express should never cease. Although a busy architect, Ashok found comfort in his basement studio where his palette and knife gave him ample joy and he spent time experimenting with various mediums to paint a story.
The content of his work is simple and straight. There are no hidden meanings to decipher, nor any ideological stands to shock and surprise his audience. His attempt at lyricism can be noted in the painting where the female form is blended with the moon. The inky blue sky with the moon, clouds and the lady in thick impasto style invite the spectator to feel the forms in all its tactile sensuousness.
His catalogue regarding his process read as follows: “Ashok’s artworks predominantly are sculptures within paintings. … So, touch them to feel - you will be experiencing the sculptures. He blends gesso, which is a thick paste of clay, with white cement that becomes the medium of the painting. He chisels out the carving with the help of palette knives...”While regarding his female forms one cannot forget how essential the architectural form is for Guda. By creating ancient dilapidating structures he simultaneously creates a drama of the warm yellow glow bringing to life the glory of the past. He pays a glowing tribute to the forts and stupas that reappear on his canvas.
Ashok Kumar initiated his creative journey with charcoal and watercolours and eventually graduated to acrylics. Nevertheless, the mixed media of clay paste and white cement provide him immense pleasure. It gave his work a natural character of the impasto style, granting a certain texture very popular with the masses. Impasto Expressions is on display at Chitramayee, Telangana State Fine Art Gallery until October 20 (Friday).