Expression of Reality

Artist Ramchandra Kharatmal started painting when he was just a child beginning to understand colours.

National award winning artist,Ramchandra Kharatmal,captures the essence of joint families in his latest quilt-motif inspired collection

Artist Ramchandra Kharatmal started painting when he was just a child beginning to understand colours. I come from a lower middle class family. My parents were part-time tailors. So convincing them about my passion was difficult, says the 33-year-old painter whose paintings will be on display on September 16 and 17 in the city. In 2006,he was honoured with the 48th Indian National Exhibition of Art Award by Lalit Kala Akadami,New Delhi. The award did not change the way I work. It simply made people more aware and gave my work a certain validation, adds Kharatmal who is the recipient of several other awads,including two state level ones. His works have rich colours and he displays control over the contours of the human form. He has the ability to express subtle messages through the image of a mere pair of old hands. In fact,brevity of imagery is his forte but the same is camouflaged by the richness of his colours.

Kharatmal has been experimenting extensively with the quilt motif in his works. His national award winning work,Auto Raja,is also based on this motif. The quilt signifies warmth. I see it as the story and history of a family. I associate the quilt with fond childhood memories, he says. Quilts are made by stitching together pieces of old clothing. Through the canvas,I represent a scrap from grandmas sari,a pocket from fathers shirt,a piece from the new born babys smock,a fragment of the mothers blouse. Each piece is a recollection of the occasion for which it was bought and where it was worn. It retains the essence of the wearer. The Indian quilt in my paintings is an ode to the Indian joint family, Kharatmal adds.

The artist feels that art is a way of expressing ones own perception of reality. I started working on the Childhood series after my son was born and my paintings in this series intertwine his childhood with mine, says the artist. Kharatmals living room is adorned with two works of art – one is his own and the other is his four-year-old son,Manavs scribbling on a piece of paper. The three lined painting of Manav represents his perception of Ganeshotsav, feels Kharatmal.

Kharatmal is still to touch upon the abstract form of art. He says,”When figures cannot express my thoughts,I will switch to formless art. The artist is also assisting senior painters with Chitrashilp Kosh,an encyclopedia of the artists of Pune. Though painting is our profession,we have no formalities attached to it. So this book is a way to document and record an artists efforts, Kharatmal adds.

(His work,along with his wife Varsha’s work,will be on display at Tain,Fatimanagar,on September 16 and 17)

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