The art exhibition, ‘Garden of Delight’ at Alliance Francaise was truly a representation of the fact that art cannot be restricted to a form or method. Three artists, Chandni Janardhan, Mini Arora and Urvashi Thakkar came together to display their respective pieces of art, each telling a different story.

Chandni’s collection is a reflection of her inclination towards emotions, both in humans and animals. Joy, pain, fear, poverty is among the many emotions she has managed to capture through the eyes of children, among which the ‘Afghan girl’ (a photograph by Steve McCurry, first featured in the National Geographic) is the most famous image. “This is the fifth exhibition that demanded the same portrait and my attempt each time is to be able to capture the emotion intended by the photographer. The young girl’s eyes are her most prominent feature and that has been a challenge to recreate,” says Chandni.

Her collection also reflects the bond between mother and child and this is shown in ‘Rajasthani woman and child’ as well as ‘Lioness and cub’ that manage to beautifully represent this strong emotion. Landscapes are inspired from places she has visited such as Kerala and also the UK where she resided for a few years.

Abstract art is Mini’s forte and she believes that every viewer must be allowed to interpret her work the way they want to. “I never plan out a painting. I like playing with colours and at times, an image amidst the colours come alive and I end up getting that on the forefront. But otherwise, I let visitors tell me what they see and trust me, they all see something in them,” says Mini.

Among her many works at this exhibition, ‘Prayers for Tibet’ is the most prominent one. “It is a coincidence that the issue came up in debate across the globe just as I had finished the painting. That helped me with the title,” she shares.

Urvashi Thakkar’s works focuses on the Buddha and every canvas is a picture of peace and tranquility, a reflection of Buddha’s principles.

The exhibition is on till Saturday, April 5 at Alliance Francaise from 10 am to 7 pm.