CHENNAI: On a quiet afternoon, when gigantic waves crashed on the shores of Japan, the world panicked, but Thara Ganesan knew she had work to do.A poet and self-taught artist who has been painting for over a decade now, she has beautifully captured the monstrous after effects of Tsunami. The 85 paintings hung on the walls of the Vinnayasa Premier Art Gallery at Mylapore has something different to offer. If you take a closer look at the paintings, you will find an asymmetrical pattern that appears as waves, waves that destroyed the city of Japan, that killed thousands and caused destruction of property worth millions. Thara believes in being one with her works of art, and so, she has used her hands and fingers mostly, to fill her canvas. However, sometimes she has used a palette knife too. Now, what led this artist to abstract art? She has always been a keen observer of art, be it literature or painting. Art is meditation for the soul, she claims. She refuses to believe in any particular form, as she says ‘art is everything, and it’s everywhere’.She has, very alluringly used shades of red, orange and yellow to depict fire, lighter and darker hues of blue to bring out the destructive nature of water and wind and added brown tinges to portray the powerful earth. What surprises one the most is the fact that every painting of Thara’s has a trademark abstract stroke of red running across the canvas. After a little prodding, she says, “Those red strokes are a symbol of my existence. As a woman, they mark my identity. ”The paintings, at times, have the observer seeing an illusion, something more beyond the confusing chaos of colours. The paintings are as deep as the ocean bed, as vast as the endless sky, they contradict one another, and sometimes agree too. They teach you the language of colours and make you think. They are more than just paintings, they are a chronicle of the disaster that took the lives of millions.Thara’s works always have something to convey, a message or perhaps a story long forgotten.(The exhibition is on till September 10 at Vinnyasa Premiere Art Gallery, CIT Colony, Mylapore. For details, call 24982515.)prarthna@new indian express.com
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