Vidya infuses music in her art

The Tones of Seasons’ by Vidya Sundar, a Chennai-based artist, is on display till October 28 at Vismaya Gallery, MG Road. In a conversation with Roshni Rajagopal, she talks about her first solo art exhibit in Bengaluru.

The artist is influenced by literary and musical elements. ‘The Tones of Seasons’ includes the different ragas that are sung based on the time of day it is sung.

The colours that are used in each piece elucidate the emotion that each raga denotes and the symbolisation used are rich in colour value and composition.

She says that she visualises these ragas, and all her paintings are based on her imagination. “It starts out as one thing and as I progress I add more elements and layers until I am satisfied with how it looks,” she further explains.

The exhibition includes her art series ‘Ṛtusaṃhāra’ which portrays the female form in a natural theme; where elements of nature like leaves and flower petals are used to create the illusion of a human form.

“I use a lot of floral tones on my artwork, encompassing Vasantham, something beautiful and happy,” she explains the use of vibrant colours for a brighter and positive effect.

The art exhibit also includes her paintings from the Hindustani music-inspired ‘Raga series’ that portrays the ‘bhava’ or the emotion of each raga.

The English major adores the works of Elliot and uses his lyrical imagery in her work. She also takes inspiration from her observations and experiences for her work. “I have two paintings that show the pigeons that I observed at my neighbour’s house. They cleared out the bird’s nest and built a grill so they don’t return. It was a sad sight and I just had to capture that moment through my artwork,” she says.

Vidya takes about a week or two to complete each piece and she explains that some of them take a shorter time depending on how engrossed she is. “I don’t paint every day, but when I do, I put my heart and soul into it. I keep adding on to some paintings, making it better and reflect the idea I have in my mind,” she elaborates.

She admires the works of Rembrandt and Dali, and closer to home, she admires the work of Ravi Varma for his novel techniques and skills. Vidya Sundar has done numerous art shows across the country, including places like Jaipur, Kolkata, Chennai, Guwahati, New Delhi and Ernakulam. She has also done a number of international shows and will soon be doing a show in South Korea.