KOCHI: When you enter Studio Pepperfry, at first you see a well-lit home decor backdrop but towards the right is a ‘newspaper series’; heavy monochrome paintings with faces of social injustice and, towards the left is a canvas filled with vivid and bright portraits. Such is the contrast in the works of artist Kanchan Rathna, which has been showcased in her exhibition, which concludes on April 21.
Asked why she uses only intense colours Kanchan says, “It is a contrast to my personality, which is neither loud nor fierce. So I chose to come out like this.” She motions to her collection of rich abstract art. From wooden boxes to chairs, Kanchan’s canvas is whatever she deems it to be and each of these have the stories of various women to tell.
Meanwhile, her relationship with the Pepperfry is a symbiotic one. “I give them the viewership for their furniture and they let me display my art,” she says.
Her ‘newspaper series’ is a direct manifestation of her stance on contemporary issues. “I suffer the pressure of the mark-oriented education system because I have a son who is appearing for the Class X exams. Also, every single day there is a news about a girl being raped. These are things all of us experience, which is why I chose newspaper the common medium instead of canvas.”
Even though her portraits are faces of women, including one of her own, she says that she has never faced any bias as a woman in the art community. There she is just an artist, like the rest of them. She believes not everyone can be an artist in the new era of digital art. “You cannot just tweak pictures from the Internet and be called talented,” she says.
“There is a need to work hard, which is what I have trying to showcase.” She is proud like a mother about every single one of her creations and is enthusiastic to answer queries and show anybody around. While taking leave she says, “I don’t hope to achieve major change, instead, I just want to grow as an artist.”