As you step inside the banquet hall of OTDC's Panthanivas in city's Kalpana area, you will come across artistes busy shaping up their perspectives on coal mines with colours. A group of 20 artistes from across the country have gathered there to attend a national-level art workshop themed around coal mines. The event is being organised by Odisha Mining Corporation in association with Lalit Kala Akademi.
Delhi-based contemporary artiste Vimmi Indra upholds the essence of tribal culture in her painting. We spoke to the artiste when she was giving finishing touches to the portrait of a tribal woman in black and white. The artiste revealed she would set the tribal woman in the backdrop of a coal mine that she visited during her ensuing trip to Bhubaneswar. "I will use different colours for the background. I have developed this distinct style of highlighting a particular element in black and white. I place the element in a coloured background," said Vimmi. For giving a soothing appeal to her paintings, she picked up a long brush and gently moved it over the painting. This was what she termed as the soft brush technique.
Former Head of the Department of Fine Arts at DAV College for Women in Amritsar, Baldev Gambhir choose to give an abstract look to his painting. His piece was divided into three distinct segments. The bottom layer was painted in shades of purple, represented the mining area. "As you move up, you can see lighter shades of colours. These areas in green and yellow depict greenery. The pillar that runs through the painting is the main attraction of the painting. I will decorate it by adding textures," the artiste said.
Each artiste had his own way of representing mining activities. Artiste Bijaya Biswal used surrealism to depict the same. He merged the motif of iconic Konark horse, a miner and iron rods to synergies his theme. "You can see the stone statue of the konark horse being protected by iron rods. And, a traditional coal miner taking the lead in the painting. The bottom half of the painting represents the coal mines. These are all virtual elements which can't be merged in the real world. But, for an artiste, it is possible to connect these things on canvas," he said.
Budding artiste Ashutosh Patra tried to depict how the mining activities were being carried out by maintaining the nature's balance. "I have painted a human figure. It represents the mining corporation. You will find the painting to be dominated with the use of green and yellow. They stand for maintaining greenery. While, the mining activity has been depicted with darker shades on the top half of the painting," he added. The workshop will end on September 8.
Speaking about the initiative, Secretary of Lalit Kala Akademi, Manas Jena said the artistes were taken to the nearby coal mines as part of the workshop. "They visited the mines and observed life there. These paintings are reflections of their observations," he added.
Jena revealed that the Akademi was also planning to organise an international art fair in the city soon.