A rustic tale of emotions

Five minutes after she landed and was out of the Kempegowda International Airport, she was blown away. “I lost my bearings,” she says. A textile designer and an award-winning French artist, Claire Hamant has an overwhelming love for India. A tourist who had come here for a short visit, she was struck by the country’s vitality and creativity and she was back for more. On her second visit to the country, she travelled across the states and captured her travel experiences in colourful pieces of art called ‘Impressions’.

“I want to not just capture the beauty of the country, but the emotions and energy of the people here. The freedom, craziness, and the chaos inspired me to paint the life of people,” says Claire. A Jodhpur farmer, a Rajasthani village man, the traditionally dressed women of Pushkar, Warli art on cloth pieces, the architectural pillars of temples — the simple and rustic life of India is captured by her in vibrant colours with emotions speaking out from her paintings. She has travelled to culturally rich places like Shravanabelagola, Hampi, Varnasi, Agra, Delhi, Rajasthan, Puducherry — which she says, “Has given me a lot of exposure about the varied culture.”

Not a lady of many words, she pitches in her adoration for the country through her acrylic paintings done using three primary colours — blue, magenta and yellow — with shades of black and white. She recently conducted an exhibition of all her art work and the centre stage was taken by her innovative concept of a paper globe and flower map of India. The globe, made using Indian and French newspapers, had special representation of India and France with paper-cut people surrounding it with hands held together. The Indian map, outlined with chrysanthemums, was lit with diyas, and each diya marked the place in the map that she has travelled to.

Ask her what is so special about this country and she does not think twice to say, “Freedom”.  She adds, “France is very disciplined and overly systematic. But here, there is so much freedom and expression. The people of France, after my visit to India, seem very frowny, whereas Indians are always smiling. It is a pleasure to observe everything here and each thing fascinates me in different ways. It is just marvellous.”

She also loves the traditional sari and comments, “Even though I love the way it is worn, I do not think that this attire suits me at all. It best adorns the beauty of Indian women.” When asked if her work would touch upon the recent Paris attacks, she says, “I like to reflect peace in my work. It is tough and painful for me to represent the cruelty of humanity.”

She has connected, through her works, the culture of India and France and she goes on to explain, “France is famous for lace work. I have painted the folk art of Karnataka ‘Chittara’ on my grandmother’s lace work and this is my way of weaving different traditions together.” Like every foreigner, she loves Indian food including ‘aloo paratha’, ‘masala chai’ and meals on plantain leaves, and expresses, “The taste is sensational and it goes right above my head.”