Brush with colours

Exhibiting at the Salar Jung Museum is a homecoming for Surabhi Vani Devi whose 72 works including water colours, acrylic and lithographs are on display from September 3. “As a child I would often come to the museum and sketch. The museum is like a temple and it feels nice to have an exhibition at the museum,” quipped the artist.

From landscapes capturing the horizon, the snow capped mountains or even a simple village; her works reflect the mastery over the brush. At a time when artists all over swear by acrylic on canvas, Vani Devi’s heart beats for water colours. She says, “Water colours are challenging and it takes years before one masters and gets a grip over the medium.

I also work with acrylic, but have come back to water colours.” An artist and a teacher, many of her works date back to her teaching days at the College of Fine Arts JNTU. “I used to work along with students and many of the works are demos made during my teaching days.”

The lithographs, too, take one back in time. Sridevi, a visitor at the exhibition said, “They have a quality that transports one to the days of yore.” The value of works are extended by the fact that even though some date back to the nineties, they are relevant, especially the ones that depict nature and village mileu.

Some of the poignant works are part of the ‘Sare Jahan se Acha’ series. The rustic village is beautifully captured with the correct hues of brown for huts and hay that cover the roof. The right amount of pressure to get the correct grey for the rocks and a dab here and there for the blades of grass that dot the streets, show the artist’s ability to craft details. The exhibition is on till September 12.