With blurred vision, this artist has his eyes set on solo exhibition

His partner, Filomina Pawar, since 1998, says that Weets is mentally alert and has mixed feelings about his upcoming art show. And there is a reason behind it. This self-taught artist’s style of painting does not fall in any particular genre. After going back and forth between established genres of painting and his style for almost 20 years, he developed his own way of painting which cannot be categorised into any genre — the very reason Weets was not keen on showcasing them at art shows. So far, he has participated in a handful of group exhibitions.

A rare visual treat for the eyes, his works, made with an ink pen on significantly large canvases, comprises juxtaposition of various objects and figures, which is mostly random but yet seems meticulous. “From the time he began painting, he must have made 1,000s of paintings but since he wasn’t sure whether his works will be appreciated. The works that fitted into any genre, he didn’t want to exhibiting because they weren’t in sync with his way of expression,” she says. Pawar shares that Weets aims to capture the world in his works and it is not possible to do so on a small canvas. His very first painting made in his own style got finished in 2007 after he worked on it for 90-odd days. It was made on a 6 ft X 16 ft canvas. “The canvas was very big to be placed anywhere. So, rolled the canvas with only the part where he was painting being placed on the floor. The painting was inspired by South Indian temples that he had seen during his visit there in 1980s. The architecture shows various stories by using figures and objects. This paved the way for his series of 2007 oil paintings,” says Pawar, adding that though Weets’ preferred medium is oil, although he shifted to ink later.

There’s no stopping for Weets, who has found a way for his blurred vision as well. Though he prefers drawing compact and dense drawings, the figures came bigger and bigger as he started losing eyesight.