Thomas Kallarackal is addicted to nature. Inspired by Russell Crowe running armed with two swords in Gladiator, he painted an African elephant running in the same fashion, kicking up a lot of dust. His creation – the elephant– is meant to protect the wild from destruction of any sort.

“My art revolves around nature and every wild animal living in it. Man must not evict animals from their natural habitat. I’ve tried to capture the grace, energy and expression of the wild in my work,” says Thomas.

He began daubing with lines and colours when he was barely ten years old. As a child he scribbled on the walls of his home with ash recovered from the hearth. The trees, landscape and just about everything around his house in his hometown in Kerala inspired him to paint. This autodidact-artist thinks that man must return to nature.

“We’ve got a lot to learn from animals and nature. No animal has ever died of hunger and starvation; only man has. That’s because instead of exploring nature we exploit it and lose whatever we have. I am trying to undo that destruction in my art. It’s my mission to preserve the wild,” explains Thomas.

Thomas likes to call himself an ambassador for wildlife. He is amazed by the indifference with which we destroy and inflict pain on animals. “One must learn to live in harmony with nature. The two — man and nature — are really inseparable,” observes Thomas.

He uses oil on canvas. Thomas’s photography has come in handy in his artwork. Photography has helped him grasp, the details and colour combination of the artwork, rather  well. Thomas has held more than 10 exhibitions across the country. His work is priced between Rs 6,000 and Rs 5 lakh. The exhibition is on at the Chitrakala Parishat till February 16 between 10 am and 7 pm.