Artist
KP Pradeepkumar ponders about the state of society as well as his
inner self
Photos: KP Pradeepkumar; 'Creation of Adam'
By
Shevlin Sebastian
Three
years ago, senior artist KP Pradeepkumar was standing at Kurla
station in Mumbai waiting for the train to Kochi. Then he heard,
through the public address system that the train would be delayed by
a few hours. As Pradeepkumar was wondering how to pass the time, he
accidentally met Samuel Isaac (name changed), a 26-year-old Jew from
Israel.
“He
was doing research on Indian philosophy at Jaipur National
University,” he says. “Samuel had travelled a lot. And he spoke
about the sense of dislocation that he felt. He was also confused
about his motherland because of the conflicts and problems in the
region. He said his countrymen felt under some sort of a threat.”
Pradeepkumar
felt a kinship with Samuel. “He was struggling and so was I as an
artist,” says Pradeepkumar. “From birth, we have an existential
confusion: Who we are? What we are? Where are we going?”
This
conversation turned out to be an inspiration for Pradeepkumar. When
he returned to his studio at Mattancherry, he began working on a
series of paintings. This batch of 58 paintings, a work of two years,
is now on display at the OED Art Gallery at Mattancherry. The
exhibition is called 'Improbable Suburban'. “I got these words from
the fiction by [great Argentine writer Jorge
Luis] Borges,” says Pradeepkumar. “The
exhibition is about the shifts in time and space, and the changes in
one's self. My work is a mix of both.”
In
fact, they are beguiling paintings. When you keep staring at it, you
spot different things. In one painting, 'Creation on Paper' (mix
media on paper), right at the centre of the work, two coconut trees
seem to be growing almost from the same roots. In the crook at the
bottom, there is the naked figure of a man with a pointed finger.
This
figure is a depiction of Michalangelo's 'Creation of Adam', a fresco
painting which can be seen on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel at
the Vatican. “All around Adam I have put in the local vegetation of
Kerala,” says Pradeepkumar. “There is a snake below the man which
is symbolic in nature. The snake represents Tantric power,
spirituality and religion.” If you peer deeply, there are also
birds, crows and insects.
In
a similar work, there are several naked man holding hands and
standing in a straight line going right across the painting. “They
represent the landless people,” says Pradeekumar. “This is the
status of the Adivasi tribals in Kerala.”
In
another painting, there are numerous birds sitting atop coconut
trees, near the seashore. “They have a wonderful and panoramic
view, as compared to human beings,” says Pradeepkumar. “So, they
are able to see people who come from the sea on ships. The work is
also a look at our colonial past, and how external forces come into
our land. And we are continually seeing the impact of that.”
One
impact can be seen in the paper drawing of a rubber forest.
Pradeepkumar had seen these type of forests in the Kattapana and
Palakkad areas. Beneath the trees, he has drawn white coffee flowers.
“I am giving a hint of the colonial impact through the coffee
image,” he says. “Many Britishers had come to Kerala and planted
tea and coffee plants in our mountains in Munnar and other places.”
The
artist has also drawn several men who are sitting or reclining on the
top of trees. “These are the many versions of my self,” he says.
Right through the middle there is a brown patch. This was formerly a
river which has dried out. “The river resembles culture and
civilisation which looks dried out these days,” he says.
In
'Red Terrain', expectedly, to suit the title, Pradeepkumar has
painted it in a light red colour. In the image, there are several
trees with exposed roots. “I have shown the roots, to give a hint
of soil erosion,” he says. “There is also a political reference.
The Communist ideology is in decline in Kerala. Nevertheless,
whichever party is in power, the people have to pay a price of living
in a politically-charged atmosphere.”
(The
New Indian Express, Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram)
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