Green might just be another colour for you, but for artist Nadine it is much more than that, which is the reason why you are likely to find traces of the colour in most of her works. The colour is either dominant or peeps from behind other vibrant colours like orange, pink and so on.
Nadine Tarbouriech, who hails from France, has lived at the Cholamandal Artist’s Village for the past 12 years and shuttles back and forth between Chennai and Paris. Nadine, who grew up in the countryside says, “I was always surrounded by nature and so the colour green is close to my heart. There was a time when I had stopped using the colour because I had had too much of it, but suddenly one day the old memories flashed and I returned to it with love and acceptance. Since then, it has formed an integral part of me and my creations.”
Nadine, who ends up associating each city she visits with a colour, says that Chennai for her is light green, Mumbai... a greyish white, Kolkata — blue and Jaipur, a mix of orange and the colour of earth. She says, “I see traces of life everywhere — on floors, on walls, pavements and pick inspirations from there. I put on paper whatever I see, though not exactly, but its trace through colours like the atmosphere of early morning, people working in the paddy fields and so on.”
For her, life is a plethora of colours from which she picks nuances and reproduces these on paper through her strokes. Her current work, which is on display at the Amethyst Cafe is all about paper and has been titled ‘Re-cycled,’ which according to her, depicts the lifecycle of a paper and is inspired from the Cholamandal Artists Village.
While most people throw paper away after use, Nadine keeps it safe, especially the paper bags her visitors and friends leave at her home. She loves paper and finds it very interesting. In fact, she tells us, “It was my dream to create my own paper and so I did it using those which would have been in the dustbin or burnt by now.” She does not use readymade colours, and instead uses pigments (colour powders) through which she creates colours.
A part of her current work (tempera style) has been created using paper, pigments and water, while another part has been created with painted sheets, paper bags, and newspapers and woven beautifully into layers. She calls them the layers of life. At the first glance they might look similar but as you go deeper, you will find that each one is distinct from the other. Playing with colour and texture is an art which she has mastered.
According to Nadine, if you are obsessed with something, you will keep on doing it until you find a solution. And once you have found it, you think you can find more and it becomes a never ending search. She says, “For me, my art is a never ending search and I want to find something or the other constantly through my colourful journey.”
The exhibition ‘Re-cycled’ will be on till December 21 at Amethyst on Whites Road, Royapettah.