CHENNAI:Stories we hear in our childhood influence what we do later in life. Brought up in the world of gods and goddesses, it is no surprise that senior artist, K Muralidharan’s works are filled with various elements of mythology. From goddesses in lotus flowers to flute playing Krishna, the paintings are surreal and mythical. City Express catches up with the artist, and he talks about his works.
Starting his career as a portrait painter, he moved on to landscapes. Hailing from the land of tales and mythology, Thanjavur, the artist chose to deviate from the traditional, though it was the very base for his paintings. “I wish to give a surreal feeling to my paintings, hence I place mythical images in my
own landscapes,” says Muralidharan, one of the stalwarts of the Madras Movement.
Over the years, the artist has travelled around the world, grasping anything and everything from different places, but the place that became the catalyst to the turning point in his career as an artist was Hampi. “Seeing the ruins brought a sense of eagerness in me. There was something mythical in those ruins that made me want to explore the space between reality and imagination,” says Muralidharan. It was soon after this visit that he started work on his collection of paintings, ‘Mystic Valley’. One of the paintings in the series won him a national award in 1994. Kolkata too was one such city that was the source of inspiration for his paintings. “It’s a place inked with art and culture, you spend enough time there and it will engulf you eventually.”
For Muralidharan, a collection of MF Husain’s series based on the epic Mahabharatha is very special. “He was very successful in bringing the essence of the great epic with his art skills,” he says. An artist for over three decades now, Muralidharan’s favourite artist is Leonardo Da Vinci. “He is a master of all kinds of creativity. He was an inventor, scientist, craftsman, but above all, he was a great artist. Although his ‘Mona Lisa’ was considered a masterpiece, to me his ‘Last Supper is the best’.”
Like many artists, Muralidharan is connected to his emotions. Having lost his son to cancer, he was unable to create art. He couldn’t work for two years, after which loneliness and ebony were the common factors in his painting.
His recent works are an effort to blend international approach with traditional themes. “I don’t work in a traditional manner. The colours I use are not the mainstream but from pop era,” he says. He was inspired to take a different look at Indian mythologies by different representations of Jesus. “In one of the paintings, I’ve portrayed lord Krishna playing the flute while the background is filled with elements from Vrindavan. I have used unconventional colours and style in it because I wanted to show mythology from a different angel,” he points out. His new paintings are a part of his collection, Mystic Valley, which has been expanding over the year. “My interest in Indian mythologies is endless. It’s like a sea of inspiration, stories and art that I want to explore more and more.”