Gouri Vemula sketches a dream world

Artist Gouri Vemula’s new show, Kaagitam Kalam Siraa, (Paper, Pen and Ink) continues to explore an ephemeral dream-like world with her imaginative figures of gods, goddesses, nature, men, women and animals. In her first major solo show in 20 years, the National-award winner — the first woman from Telangana to win — displays 50 pen-and-ink drawings that transport you to an idyllic world where the real and the imagined coexist. “I observed people engrossed in one artwork at the exhibition; I felt like telling them, ‘Move on, there are 50 more to see,” laughs Gouri. The works are a collection of her artistic endeavours over the years, with most of them being created by working 14 hours a day during the pandemic-induced break from routine life. “I work when I am happy, sad and sick.”

Bond with nature

Her forms have evolved over the years; the mythical figures derived from nature, trees and plants now develop from objects too. “I don’t plan my visuals,” says the artist, trusting only her spontaneity. She begins with a sketch on a corner of an archival paper and builds a world around it. The creative process takes her to the surroundings, the strong bond that she forged with Nature while growing up in Hubbali, Karnataka and her grandmother’s stories of the elephant-headed god (Ganesha) or the bullheaded one (Nandi) ; they are incorporated into her contemporary works as are her visits to Sammakka Sarakka Jatara at Medaram village in Warangal district, Telangana.

Gouri Vemula
| Photo Credit: special arrangement

Most of her sketches for previous shows were inspired by the Jatara. “The folk traditions, bustling people, sacrificial goats, sheep and chickens and the waterbodies in the vicinity reminds one of a forest, but sadly, that environment has changed.”

Alively little squirrel also makes an appearance in most of her works. These imagined landscapes, Gouri says, already exist in nature. Sometimes, she can see a sketch even on plain paper “I am tracing out what is already there. One needs to only observe.”

A 36×59 inch drawing with 12 Ganapathy forms blended with zodiac signs was a result of a visit to a Venkata Ganapathi temple in Shirdi. Her 2001 print, a tree fusing with nude forms, showcases her journey highlighting the way her art forms have evolved over the years. “Now I am able to talk more about the forms that are intricate and sensible; they seemed vague earlier but over the years I have gained confidence and know where they are leading me. The process to create is more important than the outcome. ”

Gouri, who was a volleyball captain during her school days, has extended her sports coaching methods to art too. “One learns to never give up in sports and the same attitude helps in creating art too. Sports is not just about winning but giving our 100% to it.”

In future, she plans to take her works to the international audience.

Gouri Vemula’s Kaagitam Kalam Siraa exhibition at Kalakriti Art Gallery ends on November 5