Golconda in 3D

Several artists have captured the Golconda fort but the freshness of the medium and the angles that Manju Sharma uses to bring out the nooks and corners of the magnificent fort is remarkable

Look at the painting from any angle, it would take you deep into the arches of the Golconda fort and that is where the beauty of the painting lies. And for the medium, its fresh and challenging. The use of an electric gun and plastic glue brings out an effect that is close to abstract.

While the fort in all its glory cannot be missed, it is best watching the 22 paintings on display from a distance and moving in different directions. 62-year-old Manju Sharma is based out of Kolkata but four trips and three site visits to the fort coupled with good –old family friends K P Rao’s hospitality were enough to get her started.

“I always get dreams of forts, castles and crumbling structures, they get into my system,” says Manju. The series of lines that are etched on the canvas is a technique Manju picked up while doing a general drawing and painting course at the Aberdeen Arts Centre, Scotland. A laborious process a painting takes at least a couple of days.

It takes 12 hours for the plastic glue to dry, another six hours for the ink colour to dry and over it acrylic colour is used not by the brush but by hand which again takes another three hours to dry. The brochure says it is ‘relief paintings’, they fall under the texture paintings.

The mixed media paintings with the use of plastic glue is a signature style of Manju Sharma that she has made all her own. The paintings are on display at the Iconart Gallery till September 27.

By:T P Venu

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