The Great Outdoors | NAYANAA KANODIA

In spite of the lure of the sophisticated creature comforts indoors, man embraces nature. Ideas flow, senses come alive, when a man becomes one with nature. Nayanaa Kanodia explores this aspect in her latest venture The Great Outdoors. Her body of work shows the close bond man has with nature. A union that helps him regains his lost innocence, enjoying a solace that can be derived from the peace and quiet of nature. Although a number of the paintings are set indoors trees, foliage and birds are skillfully integrated.

“The conversation I hope to create in my work is a certain truth of life and on a deeper level, a well thought philosophy. I construct fantastic versions of accessible scenes, both rural and urban utopias. Individuals may interpret my paintings in vastly disparate ways and each view will be equally logical and plausible, thought-provoking, and intriguing,” concedes the artist.

There are several layers in Kanodia’s paintings. After encountering the humored portrayal of a charming scene the complexity and nuance of her vision emerge. Her narrative uses colour, intricate patterns, and humor to create alluring images. Time plays an integral part in her paintings and she has managed to capture a moment, as though time has stood still, with great conviction.

Kanodia’s work is a salient artistic combination of a still life composition with a message. She is a painter of women who are on the cusp of telling their story. The excitement of what is the story going to be. The woman on the bicycle opens up a pastoral picture of married life with a dog that brings a smile to the face. It is an interesting mixture of East and West, the open umbrella accentuating the lure of the woman. Still life compositions of domestic middle-class interiors with a collection of flowers are an interesting oddity when put in context of soulful women in saris. It is as if two genres work successfully side by side, a surprise at every turn of the page. No wonder that her collection enjoys such popularity. What is so special that so many of her women look as if they are about to tell a story but never start or finish it as “Heard melodies are sweet but those unheard are sweeter.” The imaginative journeys started by her creations can never have an end.

Self-taught Nayanaa Kanodia (b1950) pioneered Naif L’Art in India, a genre till then unseen and unheard of in India in a contemporary context. In 1998, she was chosen from among artists of all The Commonwealth Countries by The Commonwealth Institute to have a Solo Show to inaugurate their newly renovated Complex in London. Looking at the contribution she has made to L’Art Naïve, she was invited by the Victoria and Albert Museum, London in 2001 to demonstrate her painting techniques in this prestigious Museum and also exhibit her paintings. Besides this, Nayanaa is the first Indian of non-British origin whose works are in the collection of the ‘Paintings in Hospitals’, UK. Her paintings feature in a recently published international book ‘Women in Art’ by Reinhard Fuchs. Erica Jong, a famous author, recently acquired her work. Her work is held in many public and private collections in India and abroad including the Musée International d'Art Naïf, Paris. She lives and works in Mumbai.