Samira Sheth
Much like the soft-spoken artist herself, Kausalya Gadekar’s art is
gentle and unobtrusive at first glance. The pleasant pictures draw you in with
their pleasing palette of soft colours in gentle greens and blues. Yes, these
are landscapes of Goa but they are far from the usual popular imagery depicting
the state.
Kausalya takes a good hard look at what lies beneath the stereotypical
imaging of Goa. Her delicately crafted watercolour and graphite works look at
the changing landscape of Goa – a Goa marred by rampant construction and
thoughtless planning. The compositions of greenery and sky are defaced by
haphazard buildings, the land despoiled by illegal mining and the skies
disfigured by threatening black clouds of pollution. These are not ‘natural’
landscapes but pictures of a real Goa, the Goa of today – slowly changing and
fragmenting in front of our eyes. They lay bare the grim realities underlying
Goa today.
With a subtle hand, the artist presents the man-made world set against
the natural world. The former has architectural elements that are imposing,
ugly and disorganised. Buildings have floors piled indiscriminately one upon
another while in other works, some building projects lie unfinished or construction
materials are untidily strewn about. Ugly concrete columns dominate one
picture, placed strongly in the foreground. In contrast, nature – an indelible
part of Kausalya’s thematic dictionary – remains a gentle yet nurturing
presence. The bleakness of environmental degradation is balanced by the
ever-present coexistence of nature. Which world claims more space? Which one is
more appealing and where do we find a balanced coexistence are questions that
come to mind. Yes, Kausalya is skilled with colour and technique and presenting
an attractive work of art. But, she is even better at drawing in the viewer to
question and engage with the work.
Rooted in Goa, the artist draws heavily on themes of place and space,
belonging and the lush nurturance of Goa, increasingly threatened by degrading
forces.
Kausalya studied art at the Goa College of Art where she met and married
her husband, artist Ramdas Gadekar. Some of her works were exhibited as part of
a group show recently held at the Casa Menezes gallery in Batim.
