KOCHI: The dim lit corridors that extend to the Sutra Hall of the ethnic passage opens into a world of earthen hues and shades. Sutra Hall now houses a slice of Indian village life, brought alive on canvas by an avid painter A M Victoria.
Victoria for the past 40 years has been using the canvas to splash her dreams in vivid hues. She is holding her 11th solo exhibition themed ‘Regeneration’ and ‘Life In Village’ as the subject.
Born and brought up in villages, Victoria’s artworks have been distinctly influenced by it. “My research on Indian villages played a key role when I decided upon this subject,” says the artist. Though the paintings are full of village life, surprisingly the canvases hardly have any landscapes, sceneries or typical village portrayals.
Her contemporary works have depth and showcase the concept of hazards of technology and conservation of nature. “My paintings depict the technological boom happening now and the condition of human race. Man, in a way has become too small when compared to technological advancements or it can be said that there is no enough room for humanity in this tech-savvy world,” says Victoria.
Her array of paintings for this exhibition include Little Land and Little Water, Recycle, Moon shade, Love Each Other, Precious Letter-Back To Nature, Open Market, Indian Wedding, Pushkkara Mullakal, Onam, Protect Nature and so on.
When it comes to Victoria’s life as a painter, it literally exemplifies the term ‘inborn’ talent, for she had her hands on chalk and pencils from a very young age. “My mother used to tell me that I inherited this talent from my grandfather who is a multi-talented person. He used to do sculptures and was well versed in writing poems. Apparently, we both have similarities in our thoughts and deeds,” says this multi faced talent. During school days it was her drawing teacher who led her to the world of paintings and later she pruned her drawing skills at the Perumbavoor School of Fine Arts.
This dedicated artist utilises her talent as a painter to advocate protection of nature. Her immense love for nature comes out in every canvas. The swan and the butterflies in her paintings symbolizes conservation and regeneration. Her paintings also has a pinch of Indian traditional art. She usually uses acrylic, oil colour, water colour and ink as medium for her paintings. The depiction of Indian traditional art has been done using 0.2 ink pen on her canvas. When it comes to the usage of colours, she doesn’t hold any favourites. The hues, values and saturation in her works are decided by her instincts. Her paintings are communicative by its theme, subject and colour combination.
As a painter, Victoria is very particular about how her idea is conveyed to those who enjoy her painting. According to her, a painting is not about what it speaks but its all about how people see it. This talented artist hasn’t fallen for any awards, for her, the highest recognition as an artist is when the public say that they read her and understand her thoughts on the canvas. On the criticisms that her artwork attract, Victoria says that here the qualification of an artist is counted more than the expertise acquired through experience.
Victoria is not only a gifted artist but also a prolific poet. Her poetic side has brought out a handful of poems like Vales, Childhood, Mind, Dream, Water lily, When Pushkaramulla blooms and so on. Her poems reveal the simple joys and sorrows of villagers. Victoria spices up her art life with a pinch of her own experience and journeys she had made in her life. In short what one see on her canvas is a memoir of her life.