COLOUR BURST

Lalita Iyer Musings

The colours jumped out at me and yet, strangely, it was as if they belonged. The colours kept me glued, while the lines, the people, the birds, the animals had this back-to-nature pull. It was sheer happenstance that Thota Laxminarayana's paintings came on to my FB feed. He was not on my mind. The familiarity of having met him earlier nagged me, but then accidents do happen for a reason. I traced his number and was welcomed into his airy, quiet and meditative flat in Sitafalmandi.

Thota Laxminarayana hails from Nirmal but his paintings do not reflect the Nirmal angle. He says that he learnt lines from the Cheriyala tradition under the influence of a Cheriyala painter Narasimham and learnt a lot on temple paintings and folk art. “I have also been primarily influenced by Kapu Rajaiah of Siddipet," he says.

Lakshminarayana prefers primary colours, an influence he attributes to growing up in Kuntala and Bhainsa villages. Though from an agricultural background, his father held a job, and the only artist in the family was a cousin who worked as an art teacher.

“I was good at drawing. My first attempt was in Class 3. I drew birds and trees, but my teacher appreciated it. I never stopped after that.”

All he needed was a notebook, pencil and an eye for his surroundings. His father, however, wanted him to study and pursue a government job for security. With few opportunities, Lakshminarayana began making portraits from tiny black-and-white photographs brought by locals. He considers Kala Ashram’s Ravinder Sharma his guru, who persuaded his father to support his artistic pursuit and introduced him to tribal life and traditions. I went to Adilabad to do a story on Ravinder Sharma who was awarded Kala Ratna in 2014 and I think that is when I met Laxminarayana.

Ravinder Sharma's Kala Ashram worked for decades on the preservation of India's rural and tribal art traditions, which became part of the rich visual vocabulary of the Adilabad region He says, "My entire house is a studio," though he works in one small room which is well lit. He was working on one huge piece and I wait to see it burst in colour.

While he chooses rural themes, mostly cows, buffaloes, birds, nature in general, daily rural life, this time he is working on six horses on one canvas. He has grown up listening to stories being recited in the form of poetry, watching his grandmother embroider an entire blouse with delicate paisleys.  He, in comparison uses the sharp brilliance of acrylic and it shines forth as the sun-kissed reflected light of the earth and nature. Nothing seems to be in excess.

His Ganeshas wear colourful dhotis and they only speak of his observation of the colours worn on the everyday. And that fits in, does not overplay.  Before he stepped out on his own, he was online on Mojarto, an online gallery, for 25 years. He came to Hyderabad City in 2010 and was associated with Daayra art gallery as their resident artist.

In 2022 he was invited by ISB, to build a flag for their 10 year anniversary. It had a gangallam, tree and birds. It is now at the entrance of this school.

"I am a self-taught artist and Nirmal’s folk art is all about Indian mythology in painted scrolls, all about people and incidents in daily life. I think my style reflects a mix of tribal and traditional art," he says.

While he paints, in recent times he is also doing sculptures. "Thanks to Ravindra Sir I do sculptures but I use only paper mache," he adds

- (Lalita Iyer is a senior journalist)