THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Two soft-spoken, simple individuals for whom art is something more than passion. That is Vinitha Anand and daughter Sayujya Anand for you. The mother-daughter duo, who are holding their painting exhibition at Vyloppilli Samskrithi Bhavan, stand out also due to the fact that they belong to a celebrated family, that of Raja Ravi Varma. Vinitha is the great-granddaughter of Mangala Bai Thampuratti, sister of Raja Ravi Varma. The 30-odd works exhibited at the gallery are reflections of the thought process of both the artists. While Vinitha’s works traverse through some of the profound aspects of life, Sayujya has splashed her reactions to what she has seen around and also felt at different periods of life. “I am actually working on an exhibition to help the cause of the Tibetans. Some of the works exhibited here are part of this. The exhibition will be held in Delhi, hopefully this year itself. The funds raised thus would be used for the Tibetans,” says Vinitha, who has had an interest in art right from her young age. “My father’s sister, Bhageerathi, was a great artist. I was very young when she passed away. However, I have seen her works and they have inspired me a lot,” Vinitha says. Later on, while in school, she was encouraged by her brother. She has had brief artistic stints under Nagavally R S Kurup and B D Dethan too. Vinitha, wife of K N Anandakumar, executive director of Sri Sathya Sai Seva Trust, has held some six to seven exhibitions in and outside Kerala. Elaborating on her interest in the Tibetan cause, Vinitha admits, “I actually can’t point out any concrete reason behind this interest. It just happened. I have been wanting to do something for the issue.” Much of the works which form part of the initiative dwells on the basic human qualities, with the images representing the finer feelings like love, compassion etc. The works have been done in oil, charcoal and pen. Sayujya’s works, most of them done on huge canvas, have stemmed out of some of her personal experiences. Having been a student of fine arts at Chitra Kala Parishat in Bangalore, her stay in the metro has made her think in depth about the developments going around. One such work is a take on the metro rail work in the Garden City. “People are excited about the coming of the metro. But the flip side is that they are paying a price for it, by compromising on the greenery.” It has been displayed like that video/mobile game where you have to fill in the gaps with blocks and thus win the game. The blocks stand for the houses which fill up the available space, she explains. Another work is related to a Himalayan trekking which Sayujya undertook a few years back. “The trekking was a miserable experience. That day I vowed that I would never go for trekking again. But, as years passed by, I felt like going for trekking again. It is that call from the Himalayas which has been put down in the work. I have tried to climb the peak through my painting,” she says. Sayujya is now a guest faculty with the National Institute of Speech and Hearing. She is teaching the fine arts students of the institute. “It is not an easy task. I don’t know their language, but interacting with them itself is enough to learn it. Besides, my sister has helped me out (her twin sister Aiswarya is a speech therapist in Chennai),” she says. Sayujya had in fact chosen ‘Art and special children’ as her topic for dissertation and has worked with special children before. The exhibition, which also showcases bronze sculptures by Vinitha and fibre glass works by Sayujya, will conclude on Monday. Timing: 10 am to 7 pm.
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