CHENNAI: When Maya Umesh and Chris Gideon started their website artistshive.com, they wanted to encompass all art forms under one roof, free of cost. They launched the website out of pure passion for fine arts and performing arts. “We host tattoo artists, soap makers, DJs, and anyone with a skill. The initial idea was to make a website to sell our art works but we realised all our friends who pursued engineering and medicine were freelance artists.
So we thought of making it a family of artists,” points out Chris. They are conducting an interesting art exhibition Jesus, Cactus and Octopus, at Wandering Artist till May 14. Maya explains that the three words in the title have the common suffix ‘us’. “We call ourselves ustablished: us+established, inspired from the guerrila girls of the 80s. We aren’t a feminist group, but we are all female artists who want to show that art is there all around you,” she says.
The three artists Maya, Sinica Mary, and Duhitaa Suncoo whose works are on display have painted on household objects apart from the conventional canvas. They are hoping to give people a different perspective about art and tell them that it is not always a luxury. They also go by the pseudo names Jesus, Octopus, and Cactus respectively. They are photographers and sculptors too. “The idea behind such a weird combination of names is because the one thing art history has taught us is to get out of the ordinary.
Every artist who has left a mark didn’t go by the rules,” explains Maya.
Their works also include painted fan blades, pans, and upcycled t-shirt neck pieces. With no set theme, the artists are trying to explore all forms including a mix and match of mandalas, deities, sceneries, and abstract art, which will have a splash of many vibrant shades of pinks, blues, and purples. “I am comfortable with acrylic medium, since it has both the qualities of oil and water colour. It’s easy to correct and also I can work until I feel satisfied. I am also exploring water colour which gives great effects,”
adds Sinica.
These women aim to change the myth that art is expensive. “Yes, even as artists we look at works and wonder how people pay millions for it, when it looks bad. We hope to change that by painting beautiful pieces using upcycled products and also by having a range of art works priced `100 to `10,000. That way, everyone gets a small piece of handcrafted love to take home,” says Maya. Talking about the art community and livelihood, Sinica points out “India is still developing, so I expect to see a difference in the coming years for artists. Art is a way of living...at least for us.”