KOCHI: The exhibition ‘Flood of Emotions’ painting exhibition by artist Salish Cherupuzha evokes different shades of emotions of women and nature. The ‘Aval’ (She) series of paintings takes the audience through various layers of womanhood prompting one to ponder about the hardships they face.
An acrylic painting in blue first grabs one’s attention and seems to explain every woman who carries a determined face will have a turbulent heart inside which speaks volume of emotions. “Blue is used to explain the depth of a woman who carries so many activities and thoughts in her life. In my view, every woman is a world that has numerous tales to narrate,” he says.
The write-up, penned by Salish’s sister Shanila Venu, elaborates the essence in depth. “We always term ‘women’ as Mother Nature, goddess and do the exact opposite of it. After I went through many such media reports, I have decided to vent my protest through my paintings,” says Salish.
Though he added many of his landscapes to the event, what turns out unique is his paintings on women which shows the transformations from sorrow to ecstasy, normalcy to anger. If the woman sitting in front of a temple shows despair, the woman at the hilltop instils with optimism. Another one is based on Osho’s “sex to enlightenment” with a lotus presents a woman with sensuality and serenity in a frame.
The painting which embodies a woman stifled into a bonsai tree express the opportunities that have been denied to her by the society. Another woman grew up like a hummingbird tree when she gets the chance to explore. “Like the bonsai trees, aspirations of a woman has been cut short based on the convenience of our patriarchal society. If we are ready to remove the clips from their wings, they will show us what they can do. I tried to convey this in one canvas,” adds Salish. The fourth edition of series, which was earlier held at Chennai, Kozhikode, and Kannur, consists of 29 paintings that capture the vivid emotions of femininity. The event concluded on Sunday.