Through these works, artist attempted to harmoniously reunite art, agriculture, and human nature while also attempting to portray a moment of balanced stability amidst the complexities & uncertainties of life.
Madhu quote : “I live & work as an independent visual artist in Malayattoor village by the river Periyar that flows through the mountains and hills of Malayattoor forest division of Ernakulam District. Most of people here are small farmers or running small scale businesses. The rich landscape of this place reflects its harmony.”
The primary sources of inspiration for the imageries in my paintings are the visual encounters that artist has on a daily basis with groups of neighborhood men & women of all ages who work on various jobs on daily wage basis -like farming, weeding, cleaning streams & digging rainwater pits as part of the government’s employment guarantee programme (Thozhilurappu).
A group of people are trying to balance on rudimentary tools in a state of homeostasis (Samasthithi) in my paintings – says Madhu. Homeostasis is a state of balance to which all living beings try to attain to maintain the fairly stable conditions necessary for survival. Also these imagery symbolizes how consistency in daily routines gives us a happy life.
The appearance of the human figures in these works might not seem to be reflective of those in my hometown. In an effort to add fresh perspectives & dimensions, I have attempted a restructuring by creating a group of people with very different type of features to “perform” as images of the working people around me going about doing their jobs.
” I hope my attempts to work on my language has helped attain to my artistic ends”. – Says Madhu.