CHENNAI: What is an artist’s dream? To document life and to be well-known? Ramya Sadasivam has a different set of goals. She wants to win awards, get art commercalised in India and thus find her paintings in homes across the country. Her ultimate goal, given a chance, would be to indulge and spread her nude art.
Thirty-year-old Ramya began to take art seriously only five years ago. Though she knew she had the skill and liking for painting even as a child, she couldn’t pursue it.
“The first time I saw my mother water-colouring a princess with a crown and heavy jewellery with intricate work, I caught hold of a pen and paper and began to sketch. They appreciated my skill but never encouraged me. When I told them I wanted to take it up as my career, they refused, as it wasn’t a financially stable career. So, I completed bio-technology and MBA.
Meanwhile, I continued to make time for my paintings,” she narrates. “Then I met someone, who showed me that you had to be stubborn and strong to pursue dreams and reap your skills. Inspired, I went back to my parents and told them that I have to be an artist.”
Since then, Ramya has been practising earnestly and has sold a few paintings and worked on commissions too. But…she still burns with her love for nude art. The drive was strong and she tried to make people understand but nudity, as an art form, is still not accepted in Chennai.
“I have been criticised with curse words and been told that I’m going against our culture. But am I? I believe beauty is directly proportional to how a woman reacts in situations. I have a nude woman combing her hair in one of my paintings. Her only concentration is on the work she is doing,” she says adding that she would find models online, pay and photograph them nude to go back and create art.
Not only aesthetic, it’s about technicality too. “Nudity is the most complex and interesting work an artist can do. The anatomy, the skin tone, the stance…all of it challenging! I would display my work with pride. I don’t pay attention to criticism unless technical,” she states. She wouldn’t mind working on sensual themes too. But dreams aside, Ramya paints a lot of traditional village life.
As any single woman over the age of 23, her peers and relatives coaxed her to get married.
“No, I will not marry just anyone. He has to understand and appreciate my craze for art, and give me space to pursue my dream,” she says, and shares a piece of well-thought advice. “If you are a woman who wants to pursue her passion, always remember you need a strong person to have your back. My father protected my dreams. He would explain to my relatives that my life lies with my paintings.”
To check out her collections on Indian Heritage, Nudity and portraits, visit www.thepleasurepaintings.com