ABOUT SIVABALAN

Life’s vignettes

Sivabalan is a young artist, passionate about the watercolour medium and prolific in its use. His brightly coloured paintings capture the essence of pastoral life, its changing seasons, culture and festivities, and most importantly, its people. Unlike many others who choose to use earthy tones when depicting rural subjects, Sivabalan employs bright colours to compose his vignettes of everyday life. Reminiscent of Company-period ethnographic studies, women hefting pots of water on their heads, baskets of hay and a score of other things like caparisoned elephants and village processions, bullock carts, children playing, and cycle rickshaw wallahs make up his oeuvre. Snapshots of daily life, they showcase his affinity towards his native place and present a completely different pace of life from that experienced in the city. He notes, “I was born and brought up in Kumbakonam, a town of temples surrounded by many villages. The town always had a culture of its own and a festive mood. Even today I enjoy and express it and it still influences me.”