Reflecting on life, nature, forms, hues and even personalities is artist Zainab Ravdjee (pronounced rav-jee), whose current exhibition of paintings, is more than just an artistic recreation of life and its contents but an expression of a whole through colourful tit-bits.
Currently based in Mumbai but born and brought up in Hyderabad, the 27-year old artist brings her first Indian show to her maiden city, calling it Reflections.
An 18-piece collection of canvases done in acrylic, the exhibition is a bouquet of paintings that Ravdjee picked out from her various shows over the past year and a half.
“It’s called Reflections for the same reason; I am looking back at the shows I did in the past and putting it together for this show. Which is why you will find that the paintings stem from different inspirations.”
True to that, as ambiguous as the title, the inspirations behind the paintings stem from seasons – as can be seen in her four part series, balance in life from her Zen series, nature – her canvases Temple Flower and Symbol and the Touch of Gold series where she gives in to the opulence – dipping her brush in gold, the canvases are shiny bright designer-looking couture canvases with the metallic yellow paint winking back.
Also standing from the crowd is an oriental piece called Dragon which shows a flaming red trail across a deep black background.
Some of her paintings are mostly in abstract, her forms structurally unstructured, giving one the appearance of peering through a fog.
Soft colours set the mood of her collection, which unlike most, are named and give the patron a starting point. Others are done as a dance in textures, using gel to give a sand-like effect, almost like a game of hopscotch, one square smooth in vibrant colours, the next like a gravel patch.
While Reflections can’t be appreciated as one in entirety, the beauty of it lies in its very multitude. However the show stealer seems to be the three-piece canvas of Priyanka Gandhi painted in pop culture colours of teal blue, bright fuchsia pink, light hued grey and green, brought out on a white background.
Done in the technique of Wedha, the canvas is first digitally designed and printed, upon which the artist may also paint. The different coloured paints act as the umbra and penumbra regions of the portrait.
“In every exhibition I like giving a prelude to my next show, something like a teaser. The Priyanka Gandhi portrait is the first of the series that will feature in my next show, sometime post-March in 2013,” explains Ravdjee who plans on gifting the portrait to its namesake.
Reflections is on display at the Kalakriti Art Gallery, Road No 10, Banjara Hills till September 29, from 11 am to 7 pm. Contact 040 - 6656 4466.
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