Nature, life, history, masters of art

Kalakriti Art Gallery conducted a residency programme for two young artists, P Yogeesh Naik from Baroda and Sreeju Radhakrishnan from Kerala. The promising youngsters share their experience with art and the many influences.

Yogeesh comes from a remote village in Karnataka. He shares, “We belong to the ‘Lambani’ caste from the village of Purlyhally in Hasan district of Karnataka.

My mother Kamalabai has been stitching patterns on the garments as per the traditions of our community. I have myself been helping my brother-in-law K Purander in making the stage designs of ‘Rangayan’ theatre in Mysore. All this led me to take up Arts, and I did my BFA from Chamarajendra Academy of Visual Arts.”

“After my MFA, I started doing works referring to burning social issues prevalent in India, which have always come out of the population explosion and reflect the problems of the masses.

Poverty, disturbances in society, social and political situations in this fast rising population create situations that are always threatening a violence-free and crime-free peaceful existence of humans,” he explains his preference for social issues.

On the other hand Sreeju was born in a Carpenters family and always had a passion for photography and animation. This residency for him was like ‘experiencing a city’. He shares, “I am inspired by the greats of art field like Henri Rousseu, Diego Rivera and David Hockney.

My paintings give ‘multiple perspectives’ and the ‘colonial era’ is invariably reflected in them; It’s the interplay of history and stories. I am deeply influenced by the thoughts of Orhan Pamuk in his book ‘My Name Is Red’.

The paintings also have something to do with ‘Old Grandma Stories’ that we heard over a period of time.”

“Hyderabad is a nice place to work, and the hustle bustle around Charminar is an unforgettable experience,” he adds.

By:Jaywant Naidu