One doesn’t usually meet up with a mother and daughter duo, so diverse in their thinking, beliefs and norms, yet who synchronise their art forms. And they are having an exhibition at Kynkyny Art Gallery, with a preview on July 7, Saturday.
Mini grew up in Assam, in the tea plantations, got married when she was 17 to Venky a tea planter. The wives of planters didn’t get opportunities do much else than keep house. It was when the company started a child care programme that Mini got time to think about her art. After 33 years in Assam, Venky was posted to Kochi, where Mini got an opportunity to explore a market for her paintings.
“I was always good in sketching, my mother did a lot of batik and often asked me to sketch for her. It was during a visit to Manila, that I got an opportunity to attend a six-week course in charcoal painting with Francis Philip. I made portraits for family and friends as a hobby. A friend of mine wanted to buy a portrait of Mother Teresa which I’d made after meeting her in Kolkata and that rquest got me thinking of art professionally,” said Mini.
Mini had her first exhibition in 2001 at the Taj Art Gallery, with a series on Indian musicians, and followed it up at Windsor Sheraton in 2003 with a joint exhibition along with daughter Mandira, which too got a good response.
“Candid images require a lot of concentration to create. And charcoal is a difficult medium for this,” says Mini, adding, “The line cannot be altered. It was after devoted practice, a lot patience and perseverance that I’ve been able to grow.”
Inspired by Salvador Dali, Jamini Roy and Paresh Maity, the figures in her compositions reach out to spaces. The black is strong and mysterious, the singular brightness and clarity of white reaches a depth conveying joy, sorrow and divinity.
Mandira on her part, explores the fascinating realms of collage. “I always liked sketching and my mom and nani (grandma) encouraged me. I had never thought of art as a profession, but after my first exhibition with mom, I was surprised to see people were actually interested in my work.” Having participated in group shows in the City, she and Mini then held an exhibition as part of a group show at  Nehru Center in London this May.
Mandira teaches at Wigan & Leigh, where she feels the interaction with creative minds is stimulating. Paul Klee, Dali and Francis Bacon have impacted her art forms. “But, I have to be original, I can’t follow conventional systems. I’m intensely critical about my work and if I get into a cliché I’d change my style.”
The peacock, a prominent theme in her collage, made with X-ray plates, which she discovered accidentally, is a great medium, says aMandira. She finds cosmic energy as a new dimension to erotic silhouettes.
The details on the charcoals with dashes of colour echo in the collage, highlighted in mysterious hues. “Each artiste represents her generation and individualistic style,” opined Namrata, the owner of Kynkyny.
The paintings of this talented duo are on exhibit till July 28 at Kynkyny Art Gallery, #33/200, NS Iyengar Street, off Railway Parallel Road, Kumara Park. Ph: 32914700.