Some experiences are unforgettable. The National Woodcut Camp organised by Gallery Artoz’s Founder, Virangana Soni, became one such cherished memory. She successfully held this first woodcut camp in Udaipur, India from 23rd– 27th January, 2020.
Picture this – 11 young artists from different states, gathered for one camp, at one place, with one motive, to create different ideas. What can happen here? Certainly magic!!
Upon reaching the location, Lavit Malhar Resort, you realise you are in a completely different zone. The vibe is amazing. Peace, positivity everywhere. Artists are all around. Some are drawing, some preparing the ink, some chatting while others carving. There’s happiness and creativity in the air. Wood cutting tools, wooden boards, paints, rollers, the smell of the surroundings, oh what a site it is.
And in the blink of an eye, puff! Five days are gone. It’s difficult to say goodbye. But hey, the camp was all about creating a learning and friendly-competitive environment that Gallery Artoz earnestly conducted.
So, who were those outstanding bunch of people that were part of this camp? Why not dig a little about them and get to know about what they created in this event.
Rahul Dhiman likes to draw on ‘day to day travel experiences, majorly, train journeys’. He did his masters from Chandigarh University and now is an assistant professor at one of the recognised art colleges in Chandigarh. For the art camp, he created an emergency window view of the train showing various lively visuals of people.
The topic of motherhood is something that connects Pranjit Sarma deeply to his mother. He is from Assam, currently practicing art in Bangalore. The aspects of geographical and physical detachment from his place and mother, incessantly persuades him to put the question of ‘Where is the value of Motherhood?’ through his art. He tried to portray the same feelings in his art at the camp too.
Poorva’s focus is on ‘Everyday things’. Her art is subtle and it speaks for every viewer in its own way. “The time and space of existence changes/might change with each experience. But the beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder always,” she adds. A native of Pune, Poorva Indani currently resides in Baroda where she owns her art studio. Her lovely creation, during the camp, showed the beautiful view of the surroundings of Udaipur.
“I love the beauty residing in every person’s (female)body. I don’t see nudity as vulgarity but as art. My art celebrates body fantasies in a positive way and I want to change this mindset of people through it. I am creating art for the camp preserving the same idea in mind. Let’s see how it goes,”says Arvind Sharma, owner of an art studio in Karnal, Haryana.
“Social issues are something that hit my thoughts all the time. Whether it is about women suppression, youth forgetting their values or lack of education or anything else, I try to portray them through my work.” Mahesh Dhiman, an experienced artist from Haryana, depicts these concepts in his art by using facial expressions and symbolic objects. With his latest art at the camp, he represented the ups and downs of life using his family members as the characters of the story.
This artist has a unique and intricate style of drawing. Bikasha Chandra Senapati has a penchant for ‘Nature and Journeys’. Belonging from a small place in Orissa, his inspiration of art has been the Banyan tree in his village. The lines and circles in his art are the difficulties in everyone’s life.“When you face these difficulties bravely and surpass them, you understand the real beauty of life”, he adds.
“I’ve been working on food based art from quite sometime, the idea is to show ‘ugly behind beauty’ concept”, states Satya Narayana, the youngest artist of all, currently a student at MS University, Baroda. “I’ve prepared a tiger blind folded with a fork stabbed in his hand.” He further explains, “Tiger, a powerful breed, is a metaphor to human beings, while the fork stabbed shows our ignorance towards hygiene in restaurants and also towards following a healthy lifestyle.”
Gayathri Kasireddy loves to work on insects. She says, “Small things are not valued, be it anything. Take micro-organisms, insects, our lives are based because of them. I don’t see insects just as creatures, I see a universe in them. I see colours, life and freedom.” She also creates art based on day to day things using insects metaphorically. For the camp, she displayed a detailed portrayal of a dragon fly with a butterfly.
For him, art is creating everyday things in the form of nature and feminine beauty. Lakshmi Kiran Kasireddy, a freelance artist, from Hyderabad, creates art in a way that is conceptually clear to the viewer. “My art symbolises minimalism”, he adds. Well yes, the art says it all, his work at the Artoz Woodcut camp did full justice to his art style.
“My art talks about womanly sentiments”,Preya Bhagat, a master’s student at MSU, Baroda, likes to work on dry point and wood cut techniques. “It’s about my personal experiences, felicities from my melancholic state, every moment whether happy or sad, I convey them through my art. I use self-figure as metaphor.” She believes her art is a journey to know more about herself. Her mind beautifully reflected in her art at the camp.
The silent one, this artist is an observer of routine life. Her work is a realistic reflection of the daily survival things. Ch. Dakshayani loves to create art related to livelihood with a minimalistic approach. Currently, she is pursuing her masters from MSU, Baroda. At Artoz Woodcut camp, her art titled ‘awaiting’ showed single wheel balancing things on both sides. Quite relative to human life, isn’t it?
These were all the artists who made their beautiful presence to make this camp a hit! With immense hard work and the support of all the artists and people associated with this camp, Gallery Artoz has already achieved a new, valuable milestone in the beginning of this year and is set to conduct more such events in the times ahead.
