Picture imperfect

A haunting melancholia pervades Tom Vattakuzhy’s works, all 16 of them. Whether it is the one featuring decorative lights and frolicking girls, the one where sunlight bathes the house and kids and chickens fill the space, or where a couple is engaged in the mundane task of making the bed. Set in Kerala’s domestic world, these works are part of ‘The Shadows of Absence’, his first solo show in India. The exhibition offers a layered and thoughtful framing of the Qatar-based artist’s oeuvre.

Vattakuzhy says the works should be read as “images of interiority”. The central concern of his practice lies in probing the inner states of human life. “Within them emerge traces of politics, religion, the human search for meaning and reflections on the transience of life — sometimes distinctly, sometimes in subtler ways,” he says. The exhibition is a presentation of his recent works. It was first shown at the Birla Academy in Kolkata and is on view at the Vadehra Art Gallery in New Delhi until September 13.

Probe him further on the quiet turmoil in his works, and he admits he is not entirely sure why it is so. As a child, he remembers being touched by songs of a melancholic kind. “Perhaps those songs resonated more deeply because they carried an intimate connection with our lives and circumstances; delicate, unseen, yet deeply present. For ordinary people fated to live on the margins of power, politics and money, melancholy may hold a special meaning, a depth and a poignancy,” he says.

The show has been curated by eminent art historian R Siva Kumar, who was his teacher at Santiniketan. If Vattakuzhy recalls often setting aside his regular studio practice to attend Prof Siva Kumar’s art history lectures, including those intended for students specialising in the subject, the teacher had noticed his works in a leading Malayalam literary magazine even before he joined Santiniketan. “I was a little surprised to see a young man who has tasted professional success join an art college as a fresher. To me, that marked a sincere effort to look beyond small successes and take a long view,” he says.

Vattakuzhy says Prof Siva Kumar’s profound scholarship and deep sensitivity to the making of art left a lasting impression on him. At the same, the latter saw him grow and mature as an artist. This long familiarity and interest in the artist’s work led him to curate his first exhibition in India.

Prof Siva Kumar says shadows and absences play an important role in Vattakuzhy’s paintings, both in a literal and figurative way. “In a community that depends a great deal on remittance economy, absent members cast a long shadow on the family they leave behind. This is the deeper subject of Tom’s paintings in this exhibition. He brings this out by the subtle manipulation of the formal elements rather than straightforward narration.”

Among melancholy men and women who seem to be staring into the void lie objects like balloons, besides domesticated birds and animals. The artist says there is no fixed meaning attached to these elements, and yet they contribute subtly. “I see them as part of the intimate fabric of village life. Their quiet appearances remind us of the delicate interdependence that sustains life, and of how easily it can be overlooked.”

If growing up in this milieu in Kerala affected his work, his years at Santiniketan were a period of profound transformation in his artistic journey. It is here that he got the opportunity to engage with artists such as KG Subramanyan, Somnath Hore, and others. “It offered invaluable insights, not only into the nature of art but also into the very ethos of an artist’s life.”

Equally significant was the enduring presence of the works of masters like Nandalal Bose, Ramkinkar Baij and Benode Behari Mukherjee. “The privilege of encountering their paintings and sculptures repeatedly, along with the discerning art history classes of Siva Da, had a lasting impact on me. Together, these experiences nurtured an artistic vision rooted in the reciprocity between art and society, while also shaping a broader outlook on life.”

As he was completing his studies at Santiniketan, Prof Siva Kumar offered counsel: “Keep moving forward. Do not seek the comfort of shade in life. There may be moments when such shelter becomes necessary, but let it serve only as a brief pause for rest. Never allow yourself to remain there forever.”

Vattakuzhy has kept that advice close to his heart. Perhaps that is why he says he is never in a rush to hold an exhibition. “Art is a calling that asks for a lifetime of study and perseverance. For me, art practice often feels like climbing a mountain. The farther you travel, the more you come to realise how small you are before the vastness of art, and how infinite its horizons truly are. More than the idea of exhibiting, what excites me are these journeys themselves — the sights, encounters, and experiences along the way. Yet, to undertake such a journey, a measure of financial security is indispensable. For that reason, at different times in my life, I have engaged in various kinds of work,” he says.

Vattakuzhy’s art is realistic. He says that as a child, he found it difficult to connect with or relate to the abstract art that surrounded him then. Perhaps this led him to shape his own practice in a more representational direction — closer to life and its realities.

Siva Kumar calls this language deceptively simple. “Representational realism in art is often associated with straight-forward visual representation of the seen world. That it can be used in a layered manner to explore subtle thoughts and experiences is seldom realised. Tom uses realism to do just that, his work is a gentle yet deep probing of the social and inner life of people around him.”

And that is why its impact never really leaves the onlooker.