Thematic inspirations

“While I have been shuttling between Pune and Germany for the last 15 years I knew I wanted to paint ever since I was 12 years old. I didn’t really know anything about it except that I began by starting to draw things that I liked,first on a smaller canvas,and then gradually began expanding my canvas as I began to grow as an artist,” says Lala,about her beginnings as a painter. Lala exhibited her paintings on Tuesday at the Volkswagen plant in Chakan as a part of their ongoing,first year of successful completion of the plant,celebrations.

Speaking more about her paintings,which have a distinct Picasso touch to them,she says,“The paintings are all parts of various themes that I love to paint on. So there might be a series,which is inspired by the bars and nightclubs of the European cities during the turn of the century,or of sailors who are always ready to embark upon journeys to uncharted lands. I love capturing these disjoint emotions and portraying them as a whole on the canvas.”

Lala also says that she loves to paint women as her central characters as she feels that they portray the right balance between being strong as well as being emotional. “A recurring theme of my paintings is the fact that I love to paint emotions through the hands of the subjects. What I mean to say is that for me painting the hands of a subject are very important to me. It is a reason why I usually depict the characters either with a cigarette or a glass in their hands.”

Her paintings,which were displayed on Tuesday,were a part of a special theme of paintings,drawn by her,which symbiotically represent the association of the Volkswagen Brand with India. Her paintings depict women driving the Polo and the Beetle respectively with the Taj Mahal in the background. And even though a lot of people might view this as clichéd Lala feels otherwise. “It’s a plain beautiful monument and is a symbol of India’s heritage to the western world. And I just want to portray the same on canvas,hence the monument in the painting. Good art need not be necessarily clichéd. All one needs is a clear vision and conscience to portray the thought across effectively to the people. After all that’s what painting is all about,” she says.