Painters from around the world exhibit works on 'mothers'

An online exhibition on the theme of mothers and sentiments associated with them, springs from the loss of curator Anu Jindal's mother a year ago. Jindal has brought together artists from different countries including India, Germany, Canada, Japan and South Korea.

Titled "Urmila – Enchanted Mother", the virtual exhibition of works runs from January 4-17 on the website of India International Centre.

Adversity encourages innovation; pain draws out hitherto untapped emotions. Humanity today is in the stranglehold of the Covid-19 pandemic. Physically forced into insular lives, virtual connections have intensified. Thus struck, creativity continues unabated donning new avatars, writes the curator.

"This exhibition's theme sprung from the loss of my mother a year ago, artworks of ten artists from around the globe are in varied genre and media," states Jindal.

German artist Nils-Udo's site specific installations celebrate nature by "drawing with flowers, painting with clouds, writing with water". In urban spaces or deep womb of forests, he conjures up a wishful habitat, unblemished by humans.

Himmat Shah, follows his maxim "do or die" in a fiery, unquenched quest. Wondrous as a child's birth, creations originate from humble clay – his ultimate material. Rameshwar Broota's magna canvases hide and reveal mysteries of life. In recent experiments with glass and resin, interplay of altering light conveys musings on birth, growth, the cycle of life. Canada's Hildegard Westerkamp's soundscape compositions weave a magical world – a stimulating sound-sensorial experience.

South Korean artist Chang-Hoon Woo's profound paintings delve into the tech-driven tableau of contemporary living. Kavas Kapadia's delightful cameos of everyday life, rendered in water colours, display spontaneity and refreshing candour.

Ramakrishna Vedala's poetic portrayal of his mother draws out the spirituality and gentleness of her essence through moist, pigment soaked brushstrokes.

Prabir Purkyastha's visions are phantasmagorical journeys to a utopia, which surprisingly is very much our own planet. Japan's Naoyuki Ishiga translates his fascination with nature into highly intricate, gossamer, lace-like kiri-e or paper-cuts. — SJ