Lights On

According to him,the process of creating such paintings however is nothing short of a Herculean task. “First,one needs to create the ambience for the pictures. Next come rough sketches and then the final cut. Even after that,there might be places where predominant illumination of the strategic points and areas might not be perfect and have to be rectified. So there is a lot of trial and error involved,” he says.

Pardeshi says that it was a trip to Saswad in 1995,that prompted him to experiment with various light and shadow effects and use them into his works. “I came across a number of wadas and buildings at Saswad. I noticed that the rays of the sun would create a lot of soft shadows on the buildings,their doors,windows and also the furniture within the houses. It was a beautiful sight.” Since then,the artist has organised seven solo exhibitions based on the theme of light and shadow effects.

The current show has 12 paintings made over a period of one and a half years. The paintings consists of doors,windows,oil lamps,grinders,wall hangings,wooden wheels and a host of other such objects that have captured my imagination. Prior to Pune,his creations were exhibited at Jehangir Art Gallery,Mumbai in January this year.

An alumnus of the Abhinav Kala Mahavidyalaya,Pardeshi says that his next project is titled ‘Leaves’. “I have a fascination for objects that people deem old,useless and wasteful . When the light strikes them at different points in the day,they all seem to look different,with each having a story to tell. I wish to capture these very impressions in my next project,” he says.

(‘Oonh – Paintings based on Shade & Light effects’,is on till May 20 at the Ark Art Studio,Koregaon Park,from 10 am to 9 pm)