Gayatri Ramachandran M

My works are expressions of my innermost feelings, my thought and my philosophy in life," says Gayatri Ramachandran M, an artist, writer, film maker, cartoonist and architect from Kerala. Paintings from his collections titled The childhood memories, The village and The diary are currently on exhibition in the city's Mahalsa art gallery.

Gayatri, a self-taught artist, discovered his love for painting at a very young age. " When I was just three years old, I started making sketches and drawings with charcoal, on the walls and the floor of my house. And I was encouraged to pursue my interest by my parents and teachers who thought I had the potential of becoming a painter," says he.

His first brush with critical acclaim was in 1977 when, at the age of 18, he won the Lalit Kala Academy award for his painting, Mother. "It was an exciting moment in my life. That was when I decided to take up painting as a serious profession," he says.

Gayatri's works draw from the picturesque landscape of Guruvayur in Kerala, where he has spent the best part of his life. "In front of the Guruvayur temple there is a stage which is a platform for performing arts -- from dances like Kuchipudi and Bharatnatyam, to recitation of shlokas, magic shows and music programmes. All these events are very colourful the costumes, make-up, the drapes and the sets, present colours mixed in unimagined forms. I try to incorporate these in my paintings," says he.

The childhood memories paintings are the artist's externalisation of his childhood fantasies, when he dreamt of catching the moon and flying without wings. "These pictures are not imaginary, they are drawn from my own experiences as a child in Kerala," says the artist. While The village series is again a depiction of rural life in the southern state. "These people are very poor, but they are also very innocent. What I have tried to show is their struggle for survival, and scenes from their everyday life," he says. The diary paintings are a mix of Gayatri's personal thoughts on the human condition, and portraits of contemporary reality. The recurrent theme in these works is the struggle for power. "We like to think that we are Gods of our own small worlds. We become despots and try to suppress and control others," he says. One of the paintings in this collection shows a crowd of people without faces. "It is a bird's eye view of people in cities, who are constantly on the move. But an individual in this sea of people has no image, no character and no face. It's an identity crisis which everyone faces in a crowd," says Gayatri. The dominant colour in the artist's works is green. "This colour has some special emotions in my mind. It has a cooling, soothing effect, almost like a lullaby. To me it is like a mother's comforting touch and a symbol of peace," he says with feeling.

While Gayatri is totally committed to pursuing his career as a painter, he is also a writer who has published critical works on art and literature. He won the Kerala Sahitya Academy Award for his book, Anasaktiyude Hiranya Theerangal , in 1996. He has made telefilms on a range of topics from the problem of old age, the festival of Onam, to the Naxalite problem. "I prefer to make films on social subjects. I want my films to make people to take cognisance of socio-political problems. This multifaceted artist is also an architect, though he has not had any formal training. He learnt the technique of building low cost houses from French architect Laurie Baker, and has constructed over 100 residential buildings and a few memorial buildings in Kerala. And has also brought up three buildings in Panvel near Mumbai.

But despite his varied interests, painting continues to be Gayatri's first love. He wants to stick to simple designs and make pictures that people can identify with. "My works should be self-explanatory, because my creations are meaningless if a viewer cannot understand them. I want to propagate my philosophy of life through my works that goodness, happiness and love should prevail above everything else. I want to give people hope, and tell them that there is a future staring at us and that we should look forward to it," he says. Deepa Deosthalee

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.