Natural world shines in Ritu Kamath’s virtual show

Noida-based artist Ritu Kamath pays an ode to mother Nature with a solo art exhibition. Titled ‘The Still of Life and Nature’s Voice’, the show consists of 30 mixed media works of ink and acrylics on paper and canvas including the stippling technique of art. After showcasing at Hyderabad’s Kalakriti Art Gallery, the show goes virtual at virtual.kalakriti.in/

The works are precise, intricate, reflecting an experienced hand and each canvas depicts a wide variety of plants and seasonal changes that take art lovers through the wonders of Nature. An arts and crafts teacher at Gyanshree School in Noida, Ritu explains stippling or pointillism as a process of creating clusters of dots in a pattern. “One can bring out a little depth, many highlights and fine detailing by building up the dots,” explains the artist who began to work on the technique from 2014 and has created 30 works on paper. “But those works are still in an envelope,” she adds with a laugh.

The intricate work, painstakingly drawn with microscopic detailing, reflects her patience and concentration. Earlier she would take 20 days to finish a work due to a pain in the hand but now she finishes in eight to 10 days. “It is tedious but gratifying,” she adds.

This series of ink drawings began in April 2020 when she heard a koel’s call while doodling in her studio one afternoon. She opened the windows to see a flock of birds chirping instead of the usual mad rush of people driving by. There was a sense of calm as if mother Nature was rejuvenating from decades of harm inflicted by us humans, she says. “I felt lockdown worked in a positive way towards saving the environment to a certain extent and making Delhi again a place where one could see plants growing, a clear blue sky and hear birds chirping,” The series called the Forgiving Mother shows Nature healing itself. Bountiful wonders of nature beckon art lovers in the Bountiful Mother series.

Ritu admits that Nature being a common subject among artists, it runs the risk of getting generalised. “It is annoying because people judge you and say, “Ghar baithe kuch nahin toh phool patti bana diya (Sitting at home, if you didn’t find something, you painted flowers and leaves)” As a former lecturer at the interior design department of Amity University, she was part of students ‘ group projects that dealt with the environment, waste processing and recycling. Although unrelated to art, it was at the back of her mind on how how Nature is being taken for granted. “It was like Mother Nature was reclaiming her lost territory,” she says.

Ritu also talks passionately about the positive impact of art on students, especially during the pandemic. Calling it a subject that holds all subjects together, she says, “Earlier students would switch off their cameras in an online class and sit silently but slowly they have become inclined towards art and are eager to explore and draw. Students of classes IX to XII are back to school and now carry sketchbooks with them. They are more relaxed in the class and find it therapeutic.”

Ritu hopes to add a human element in future in her works on Nature.