When dabbling with a full time career, a family and yet find time to keep your love for art going
is a feat in itself. After her first solo exhibition, Dr Sophia Rodrigues was
confident that art was appreciated in Goa and there was more potential that
could be tapped and these artists were her very own friends. All they needed
was a bit of coaxing and the right push to motivate them to share their art
with the world. For their first group exhibition, Dr Shweta Aiya, Megha Datta,
Mariella Dias E Rebello and Dr Sophia Rodrigues, call themselves the Artistic
Divas of Goa. They will be displaying their artworks at the exhibition at Kala
Academy, Panjim from June 1 to 3, 2018 from 10am to 7pm. The exhibition will be
inaugurated by Chairman of EDC, Siddharth Kunkolienkar and Dr Ashish K Sinai
Rege, Principal, Goa College of Architecture, Panjim on June 1 at 4:30pm.
Speaking about the theme of the exhibition, ‘Life’, Dr Sophia
says, “We collectively decided on this unique four-letter word because it has a
lot to do with the feminine character. As a woman, we are the only one who God
has given the power to create and we are blessed. In this exhibition, we are
giving birth to new inner self; we are giving life to our long lost passion. We
hope this would bring new change to many women in our day to day life that no
matter whatever you are and wherever you are, you can bring a new change in
your life by working towards your passion.”
Dr Sophia is a gynaecologist for over 12 years and is currently
working as a consultant at Manipal Hospital. After a hard day’s work, she finds
solace in getting lost with the colours of paint. “I try to squeeze in an hour
or less to look at my paintings when I come home from work. I can succumb to the
love of colours and immerse myself leaving the world behind me. I do take a lot
of time to complete one painting due to lack of time, but make it a point to
complete it,” says Dr Sophia who will be displaying paintings with carried
styles like Madhubeni, Warli, Ghond and Zardosi. “Indian Art is most beautiful
and intriguing and with its varied origins, Indian art seems like it has a
world of its own and it would take a lifetime to just learn some of them,” she
adds.
The four women have been working on their artworks for the past
four months and are now excited to showcase their works. Each artist has their
own style of working with different mediums from acrylic on canvas to pencil
sketching. “I did my last exhibition at Carpe diem in September and I wanted to
motivate myself to do another exhibition to find and explore my inner self.
I’ve been fortunate to have such gifted talented women in my midst. Mariella
Dias é Rebello was my school classmate, Dr Shweta is my colleague and Megha is
a teacher in Shradha Mandir School whose husband is a close friend of mine and
a well-known radiation oncologist in Manipal Hospital,” she explains.
Mariella Dias é Rebello from Navelim is an entrepreneur and
emerging artist, working primarily in acrylic on canvas. Her artwork has its
own distinctive personality and style that includes the art of blending and
mixing medium with bold colours creating abstract vintage look. She explores
the unlimited potential of different art forms, fluid, texture, medium to
create her unique style of depth and unpredicted effects in her work. “The
sense of life is the source of art itself and in the end it all comes together
beautifully to form a perfect piece of art,” says Mariella.
Dr Shweta Aiya from Ponda is an Ayurvedic physician. “Art has
come to me as a legacy, from my father, who has an artistic bent of mind. In
the quest of pursuing ‘mainstream’ education, I never really got the time to
explore the artist in me. It’s only recently when I began experimenting with
pencil sketches in my leisure time that I realized I still had the passion
burning inside me, eager to be rekindled. I am looking forward to this
exhibition as a platform to reach out to art-lovers and critics alike, to
improvise as an artist and as a person too,” explains Dr Shweta.
For 18 years, Megha Datta from Dona Paula has been a caring
kindergarten teacher at Sharada Mandir School, Miramar, who began sketching and
painting as a hobby. Her sketches are always inspired by her keen observations
of unfolding of life. Through her paintings she wishes to convey that life is
full of hope. She does not limit herself to a particular style. Her inspiration
for paintings are numerous and boundless.
At
the exhibition, there will be a drawing competition for children between the age
group of 5 to 15 years on June 3 at 10:30am organised by Artorium, Art shop,
Panjim. Dr Sophia says, “Children are slowly losing their creativity and charm
of using pencil and paper. This competition is wholly meant for this purpose.
The best artist will get a chance to showcase his or her talent with us next
time we are planning to do an exhibition.”
