NAGUESH RAO SARDESSAI
Ashwini Faldesai has came over to her hometown ‘Goa’ with
refreshing new paintings and a show titled ‘Paradigm Shift’. Having shown in
Goa and other parts of the country collectively in solo and group shows,
Ashwini longed to communicate and share with Goans.
Senior Advocate and former Additional Solicitor General of
India, Manohar Usgaonkar, inaugurated the show on May 24 at the Kala Academy
Goa. The show was open for public till May 26, 2013.
Armed with postgraduate degree in murals from the
prestigious Sir J J School of Art, Mumbai, and now residing in Bengaluru,
Ashwini prefers to paint on canvas. Preoccupied with the issues of women and
the pondering over the way ahead for the fairer gender, she prefers to employ
paintings as a mode of dispersing information and offering emancipation.
‘My work is a tribute to the Indian woman,’ says Ashwini
with a benign smile. Employing everyday vessels as a symbol of femininity due
to its association with the kitchen and household chores, she elevates the
stature of women as an agent of growth responsible for fueling the modern
socio-economic structure of India.
‘Women are the containers of power and values,’ states
Ashwini. ‘And they have preserved the traditional values whilst selectively
adapting to modernism.’
This is exactly what she makes an effort to depict through
her creative pieces. Bottles and other vessels of varied shapes and sizes crowd
her picture surface and jostle for strategic position. The juxtaposed forms and
the subsequent intercourse throw up some more curious shapes that is symbolic
reflection of life.
Intermingle of independent individuals gives birth to another
human form on the biological or physical level or throws up new concepts on the
intellectual platform or even goes on to sprout new ideology on the emotional
level.
Ashwini’s paintings are a reflection of all these and more.
‘My paintings are inspired by the impressions and reflections of my
experiences,’ confirms Ashwini.
Female figure or face peeps through the interjecting forms
and tease the viewers for an interaction. Abstraction or extreme stylization
with subtle realism adds an interesting aura to her paintings.
‘The stylized facial forms, in my works, are interrupted
with intertwined lines,’ explains Ashwini before elaborating her concept. ‘This
relate to their struggle in coping with the dichotomous life trapped between
emotions and pragmatism, family and career.’
Simple and innocent visual with philosophical and profound
meaning arrests the viewers. Apt hues and play of tints and shades infuse
meaning in the works. ‘The Widow’ has red and yellow hue with a das of white,
whilst ‘Socialite’ is vibrant.
‘Girl Child’ is a telling piece of art. Fetus on the one
hand enveloped by blood red hue symbolically speaks of the unwarranted and
inhuman abortion of the girl child and the danger, lurching through those acts,
for the mankind.
Ashwini, who has had shows at noted art center such as
‘Chitrakala Parishath – Bengaluru’ and murals in public and private collection,
intends to paint for a cause and spread the message of harmony and peace.
