Read between the lines

Amarjot Kaur

It has taken Kavya Atray, a 21-year-old English literature graduate, some eight years, a little persuasion and a lot of courage to put up her first solo art exhibition at a city’s Hedgehog Cafe. Her experiments with liner art escaping into a psychedelic dance of abstract geometric patterns, sometimes forming faces and at other times a maze of incoherent yet symmetric strokes, fascinates. “I started painting very early. In fact, as far as I can remember, that one is the first ever painting I made,” says Kavya, pointing towards another maze-like geometrical pattern, rounding up in a circle, diagonally separated by the bright dark blue and matt-florescent pink. It’s titled, The Beginning. “I painted that when I was 13. Actually, my aunts are artists and my mother has been encouraging my flair for art. I am a compulsive doodler. I recollect being reprimanded in school for doodling during class,” she smiles.

Contrary to Kavya’s reticent disposition, her paintings exhibit bold strokes that take the form of a graceful ballerina dancer and even superheroes, like Hulk and Batman. “I am a very timid person, as such, but with art I can truly express myself,” she shares.

Kavya paints portraits of friends and people she is fascinated with. She feels, “When an artist paints a portrait, s/he doesn’t just tell the story of the person, but also gives away much about who s/he is as an artist. So, there’s a little bit of my interpretation you’ll see in my portraits,” she says.

With lines trapped in circles, triangles, and smaller shapes made of bigger lines, sometimes even barging into one another, Kavya makes translucent texture of patterns while accentuating the background too. The black ‘block-patch’ animated sketch of Hulk on the green background sold out.

“I have sold some five paintings since yesterday, but each time a painting goes, a part of me goes away with it,” says Kavya, admitting to being a little too attached to her artworks.

Along with portraits of dogs, bears, and puppies, Kavya has also put on display four of her self-written poems, titled The Voice, The Dime, A Beautiful Place, and Yellow.

“I am also a writer. In fact, I attended art school for three months, but I didn’t like the idea of being told what to paint. That’s why I left it and studied literature instead,” she signs off.