KERALA SCHOOL GIRL’S SOLO EXHIBITION IN DELHI

KERALA SCHOOL GIRL’S

 SOLO EXHIBITION IN DELHI

She is still within the portals of a school, but when 15-year-old Varsha Renjit from Kerala wields a paintbrush, she can create an incredible tapestry of colours and emotions on the canvas a fact that has allowed her to brush shoulders with the likes of legend and Padmashree Anjolie Ela Menon. Varsha who has just completed class X is showcasing 40 select paintings in her solo exhibition "Raindrops" at the Lalit Kala Akademi here that was inaugurated by Anjolie Ela Menon. "Varsha has got a distinct accent when she uses colours. Some her compositions are very strong, not expected from a girl of her age. She proves that she has arrived," says Menon.

"This exhibition reminds me of my first exhibition which I conducted in Delhi, in 1958. I was also 15 years like Varsha. M F Husain inaugurated the show. I am very optimistic about Varsha's future" added Menon. The current exhibition is the young artist's seventh solo exhibition in the India and the first in Delhi. "Varsha has a keen sense of observation, fine details of life around her do not escape her attention. These experiences are translated on to the canvas in terms of colour" says Manisha Patil, professor of Art History at Sir J J School of Art, Mumbai.
The 40 exhibited works are inspired by nature and the artist employs a vivid and energetic colour palette with consummate ease, building up intriguing textural areas in the process, layered with multiple meanings.  "Much of her work stems from the subconscious,reminiscent of the paintings of Masson or the non representational style of Kandinsky. At times there are shades of Pollock's gestural paintings. She is still too young to have formulated her own identity as a painter.

In the future, guided by sound academic training, enriching her knowledge of the art world and enlarging her vision, Varsha has the potential to go far," says Patil.
The school going Varsha says, "I started painting when I was in Grade II to fill the void created by the demise of my grandfather."

As imaginations kept coming to her without much ado, shattering the boundaries of her pain, Varsha started wielding her paintbrush with a rare sensibility, using rainbow colours to fill canvases and acrylic giving shape to her subtle moods. After her solo exhibition in 2006, in Thiruvanthapuram and since then she has held similar shows at Kochi, Kozhikode and Mumbai, before stopping over at Delhi. "I have always wanted to think out of the box," says Varsha who likes experimenting with colours. Along with the exhibition a book titled "Raindrops" was also brought out in 2010, depicting her journey as a painter from the early age. "Moods guide me decide on the topics and canvases. I like to paint something which comes from within, rather than mimicking something in the outer world," she says. Among all the colours she uses lavishly on her works, pink and purple are her favourites. "They give a lot of energy. Each wall in my room is a different shade of these colours. I live with colours," says the young artist.

                                                            Prof. John Kurakar