CHENNAI: Every day, while racing to get things done, we often miss out on the tiny details around every corner. But here are six women, hitherto unknown to each other, who stopped and smelled the coffee that now reflects in their art. With the same passion for art but with unique perspectives, they together formed the team Thooriga, meaning paintbrush in Tamil. This group of female artists carry every bit of life from busy streets to history on their canvas. What we usually view as unimportant is what is significant to them, and they are now on display at Artworld – Sarala’s Art Centre, Teynampet, till June 17.
Sushma Vinodh
For homemaker Sushma, art was a stress buster during the pandemic. But even before she could realise, it turned into her passion. She portrays the gentleness and calmness of nature through watercolours, using birds and flowers as a primary motif. “Seeing birds fly above and travel across borders with determination, inspires us as humans,” she says. In her recent piece, Le Familia, a hen is shown leading the family, with her head held high and the chest puffed out. This equals to the role of women in the family.
Yamuna Bala
“The divine energy is present in every atom of the earth,” says Yamuna, as she attempts to encapsulate the power of divinity in her paintings. Breaking down abstract concepts into realistic artwork is her forte. Her other concept, Reminiscence, aims to bring childhood memories to life, and emphasises on passing down these memories to their children. Her recent work Resonate, picturises bells vibrating in various frequencies implying that everyone of us is different in our ways.
Charanya Rajesh
Charanya, an engineering graduate, developed her hobby into passion. “I like to add faces and figurative elements in all of my paintings,” she says. The figures in all her paintings are typical representations of traditional women of Tamil Nadu, through which she hopes to share our culture with the world. Her usual painting style is gathering multiple influences and putting them all together with a Tamil flair. Her recent work Vana Rani, conveys the cordial relationship between human and animals.
Sathya N Prabhu
“I follow the Nayaka murals style,” notes Sathya who has depicted the scenes from Ramayana and Mahabharata in most of her paintings. Her latest work, focuses on a Tamil rural setting, where we see women gossiping, husband buying mallipoo for his wife, and children playing pallanguzhi. ‘Poo choodava’, depicts a husband placing mallipoo on his wife’s hair, a common way of showing love.
Gayatri Balaji
A traditional veteran artist, Gayatri has been in this art journey for more than 23 years. She uses Krishna as her inspiration in most of her works. Gayatri employs a distinctive art technique called ‘Tholu’, in which mythological stories are painted on leather. Her main objective is to tell stories and revive artform. “Painting for me is a burst of colours that represents joy and happiness,” she says.
Subhashree Sridhar
Subhashree has been learning painting since the age of five. Her constant practise, working towards perfection is seen in the intricate designs of the gopurams in her work. “My love for gopurams is never-ending as they mark our culture,” she says. Her recent works capture the beauty of simple things of every day, including the Chennai autorickshaws and pookadais outside temples.