KOCHI: Imagine redesigning society as geometric forms and patterns. A chair, the rivers, mountains and even our thoughts — everything in lines, squares and vibrant hues. This is Santhosh Sadrak’s art — wonderous geometric patterns and a multitude of colours in a surreal mixture. The artist tries to represent his thoughts, surroundings and politics through his abstract art.
The Thiruvananthapuram native had recently held a painting exhibition titled ‘Latent Segments’ in the city. He started working on them during the lockdown when he arrived from Calcutta and was quarantined. The staff at the quarantine centre asked him what he wanted Santhosh asked for colours and paper. Being restrained to a room abruptly wasn’t easy, but Santhosh poured his heart and head into the canvas. He set his target to 50 paintings and day and by the end of his quarantine, he had 500 A5 sized paintings in hand, made over 10 days. Soon he manifested the same on larger canvases, making way for the exhibition.
You can find meanings within the geometric forms, says the artist. “I am exploring the abstract medium. I ventured into realistic artist when I was young. Abstractionism is how I see the world now, and I am projecting it on canvases. It is all about the visual experience. I hope the audience can draw meaning from them based on their artistic sensibilities,” says Santhosh.
There is a vibrant play of colours in his paintings. “You cannot escape colours in this universe. They are everywhere, they are on my canvas. I might represent a house as a square, a hill as a semicircle. That’s how I find representation for them,” he says.
He reinforces how there is no boundary in art. “I want the audience to plunge into my art and experience it in all its grandeur,” he says. The solo exhibition was held at Kerala Lalithakala Akademi Art Gallery.