‘The main purpose of art is to know who you are and what you are’, says painter Vilas Tonape

Teaching is a passion and the artist believes there is no recipe for motivating a student. “The only way is to let a student witness my connection with art. My teachers taught me how to build a connect with oneself through art and this is a facet I strive to pass on to my students. Art is a pathway to this consciousness. The main purpose of art is to know who you are and what you are, apart from skills, technology, knowledge of anatomy, light and shadow. This is important to address and I strive to teach how to be passionate and fall in love with your chosen field of work,” says Tonape, who, for the last three decades, has been creating work that is inspired by both the classical and contemporary. Research, he adds, has proved that students who do art and music excel in other subjects as well, and the need of the hour is to nurture young talent.

Circus Ring Mistress — painting by Vilas Tonape

Tonape’s works have been exhibited internationally and he focuses on nature, working in both figurative and non-representational modes. His art is a reflection of life in its varied moods and shades, replete with colours and visual rhythms. Talking about how many artists give up portraiture and “move on to higher things”, by way of abstract art, he says, “I have also been doing abstract art for many years, but never felt that portraiture needs to be given a second status. The idea is strike a balance, as I conceive without conscious articulation or statements,” says Tonape, who works in oil, acrylics water colours, charcoal and now pastels.

Tonape is doing extensive research on Indian temples, as he plans to do a non-representational, non-realistic and semi-abstract series on temples. “I am taking photographs for reference and am fascinated by the architecture, design, creativity, with Nasik alone house to more than 200 temples,” says Tonape.