Life rarely unfolds in a single shade. It is layered with relationships, responsibilities, memories and moments that stay with us long after they have passed. For artist Anjani Reddy, this multitude of experiences has become an artistic vocabulary, finding expression in vibrant colours, women, dwellings, nature and everyday life. Her ongoing exhibition curated by Pooja Mallepula, The Spectrum Within Me, at Maison D’Art, Banjara, brings together this expansive inner world, offering a glimpse into the many shades that have shaped her journey as an artist and an individual. Ask Anjani to explain the concept, she is quick to point out that she never really begins with one. “Life itself is full of so many layers. I was first a daughter, then a wife, mother, mother-in-law and grandmother. I was also a teacher and retired as a professor and head of the Painting Department at JNAFAU. I have played so many roles that I carry a very big spectrum within me. I cannot take up just one concept and work on it because everything is connected to me,” she says.
And there is certainly no shortage of things competing for her time. Living in a joint family, Anjani has always made it a point to fulfil her responsibilities before heading to her studio. In fact, she has a rather firm rule at home: once she is upstairs painting, nobody calls her down. “The time I accumulate during the day and carefully keep for my practice is precious to me. I have made my studio such an important part of my life that even if relatives come to meet me, they come upstairs. I don’t come down before three o’clock,” she laughs and shares. Interestingly, her artistic journey began with something as familiar as the houses around her. In her formative years, she rented a terrace studio near her home because there wasn’t enough space for a large studio at home. Surrounded by badam, coconut and mango trees, she found herself looking at the neighbourhood through the foliage. Balconies, clotheslines, railings and glimpses of everyday domestic life became her subjects.
“I didn’t know what to do with the canvas when I started. I would look out of the window and all I could see were houses, partly visible between the leaves and branches. That’s how I started painting dwellings. I continued with them for many years, until around 2000,” she recalls. Those works went on to find admirers among the Tatas, Birlas and Bombay Parsis. One of her paintings was even featured in a 1994 Tata calendar alongside works by artists such as Jamini Roy and KH Ara. But Anjani wasn’t interested in getting comfortable with one successful style. Gradually, figures of women began appearing in her paintings. Memories of her village home, its courtyards, family gatherings and wedding celebrations also became part of her visual vocabulary. “I never make a sketch or plan what I am going to paint. I like to let myself loose and see what comes out. Like the wind, which has no plan and can blow anywhere, I enjoy that freedom,” she says. The same spontaneity extends to her use of colour. Sometimes, the weather outside quietly influences a painting without her realising it. “There have been times when I stop to drink water or clean my palette and look at my work, only to realise that the grey colours outside have entered my painting. I love those surprises,” she shares.
Despite the many difficult things happening around the world, she consciously chooses to keep her canvases filled with hope and positivity rather than sadness. “I think I am a painter of hope. I don’t want to put my sad moments on a canvas and hang them on a wall. I wouldn’t even want to look at them myself, so why should I give that to the world? I want people to have something to look forward to, something that lifts their mood,” she says. The Spectrum Within Me is on view at Maison D’Art Banjara until November 30.