EXHIBITON
REVIEW
20
JEGANATHAN RAMACHANDRAM AND SYMBOLS-HOUSE OF NATURAL ART.
KANNATHASAN THANAPAL INTERVIEWS THE MAN BEHIND THE ARTIST AND HIS WORKS
(Kannathasan) What made you chose the path of an artist as a career? (Jeganathan Ramachandram) My father was a musician and my initial love for the arts started with music and later street theatre which was staged by my elder brother and his students. I have always been interested in observing people and after school I started doing portraits of friends, family members and Indian film stars as a hobby. Funnily, it never struck me that I too, could be an artist one day. Just like many other teenagers of my age, I tried out for other jobs. I had gone for an interview for a partime sales assistant job in the then Anthonian Bookstore, while waiting for my MCE results. During the interview the manager asked me a simple sales calculation. I went blank and I couldn’t answer! Failing the interview and feeling lost, I was taking a walk near Lebuh Ampang when I chanced upon a signboard, “Art Exhibition by Artist Chandran”.
There is one distinctive feature though, that is very unique in Indian Art. If you just paint, you would be called a painter! Only one who has an understanding in music, philosophy and the visual arts is seen as a wholesome artist. (K) When you started your career as a young artist back in Malaysia, did you have any message and particular audience in mind that you wished to addressed through your work? (JR) It was very difficult then to be a fulltime artist and after just a year of struggling to survive, I rejoined New Straits Times in 1985 and continued my passion in my free time until I left to start my own art studio. I have always been interested in the Indian community and did works that expressed the social and religious perspectives that I believed would create awareness and unity among people. (K) What are the challenges/ obstacles an artist will face and what advice do you have for them?
That changed everything, I walked in and seeing the works, a strange confidence set in, that I could also draw and started drawing portraits and scenaries. It was the job opportunity as an illustrator in Preston Publishers that gave me the first tag, Artist! Soon I was painting and doing little commission works. It’s the acceptance from the local art field which made me believe that I could take up art as a career.
(JR) Obstacles and challenges are the very rudiments in the journey of an emerging artist. How else are you going to express yourself when everything is easy and comfortable? You would see great art coming from nations which went through many crises. To me an artist is a “recorder of time” and the art community should work towards building a strong cultural pillar that would help in the nation’s development.
(K) Which local and foreign artist inspired you and perhaps even influenced your works?
(K) Why aren’t there many Malaysian Indians involved in the visual arts?
(JR) I had a thing for Latiff Mohidin’s works and have been a great lover of Haji Omar Rahmat’s calligraphy, Loong Shee Seng’s illustration and “Jeri”Ahmad Azhari’s “Popart”! Omar Rahmat’s patience greatly influenced me and Loong’s fine illustrations were a great learning for me. Jeri on the other hand influenced me greatly with his “thinking out of the box” style. Though we were all then working in the graphic section of The New Straits Times, it was more like a fine art department where we were exploring various styles.
(JR) Though the Indian civilisation was at its peak in India, the Indians who came to Malaysia were the working class Indians. They brought along bits and pieces of the performing arts to entertain themselves and were contented placing the arts as merely a relaxation tool. This habitual practice stayed long and a career in Art was something the parents could never hear from their children. The best of the Indian community are doctors, engineers, lawyers and accountants.
As for the foreign artists, Marc Chagal is my favourite! I like his symbolism and the dreamy state that he presents his subjects. In India, I copied the style of many masters and was greatly inspired by M.F.Hussain, the Cholamandal artists and traditional Indian sculptures. (K) You studied visual arts in India, could you share with us the experience there and what is so distinctive about Indian Art? (JR) I had gone to India to join in an art college but just after two months I decided to become an apprentice under a master sculptor instead. I wanted to learn the Indian way. This form of learning which is also known as “Gurukulam” allowed me to get closer to the master and soon I stayed with his family. It was a great experience. There was no formal learning here and I was even given free food and lodging. It was more of an apprenticeship. I studied granite sculpturing under master sculptor Thangavel Achari, wood carving from Munusamy Achari and traditional painting from Babu Surender. I also took up music lessons under Vidvan Arjunan and was also exposed to the different ideologies in different religious beliefs which helped me understand and appreciate the sciences that produced arts of different cultures. I also spent a lot of my time in art museums, libraries and performing theatres.
(K) You received the Juror’s choice award in the Young Contemporary Awards competition in 2002 for the work entitled “Fall Out in the Garden Of Life” (1998) which is now part of the National Art Gallery’s permanent collection. What was the concept behind that painting?
But things have changed now. More and more Indians are coming into the art scene and just recently we showcased 19 Indian artists for the first time. (K) What is the concept and intention behind Symbols-House of Natural Art? (JR) I started this space in 2004 after noting that there were very few Indian artists in the art scene. I knew art has a way of moulding a community and to do my bit, I started the Symbols House of Natural Art. Though many people have mistaken it to be a gallery space, the very intention is to have a studio space for Malaysian Indians of all walks of life to experience an art atmosphere. In 2009, we started Symbols Art Club which had two art exhibitions to date, numerous outdoor art sessions and workshops. With 25 members, this club’s main focus is to create awareness particularly among the Malaysian Indian Art Community. (K) The strong aspects of Hindu spirituality in your works are undeniable. Can you comment on this? (JR) Art is an expression of the inner self, an expression that has come with years of believing a certain practical ideology. I have learnt to believe that there is a unity beyond the skin, a borderless perception and a freedom which is so complete in the spiritual context. It is always inspiring to see a Malay artist’s works inclined towards the Malay culture and religion, the Chinese engrossed in painting about their community and being a Hindu by birth it is only natural that I project spirituality from the Hindu perspective.
(JR) I still think that the work was a little bit misunderstood as the symbolic representation which I had applied, gave an impression to many that I was drawing an Indian Goddess and religious symbols. As much as I feel, there is nothing wrong in drawing an Indian goddess; though that was not the case in that particular work. The actual story behind the painting is a theatrical representation of mother Earth and anti-nature! It was the dance portrayal of Mother Nature protecting and defending her children while stopping the ‘antinature man’ from creating further destruction. (K) Any thoughts, comments or suggestions about the future of Malaysian art? (JR) Installation art, the interactive medium of the present era is now sweeping the world and is slowly seeping into the Malaysian Art scene. Emerging artists should take this seriously and evolve out of the “painting box” and see art with a thinker’s cap. An installation artist is needed to play many roles unlike a painter who is placing forms into a canvas. The role of installation art demands that the artist is also a writer, painter, sculptor, musician and many more. His ultimate work must communicate, make people feel and allow them to respond to it. I was recently at a show in the National Art Gallery where 30 artists had displayed their installation skills. My only concern is Installation art of the present and future should happen intelligently natural and artists should have very minimal limitations. I coined the term ‘intelligently natural’ as installation is various ideas put together and without the apt knowledge and skills, one would find it difficult to completely immerse in it. There is plenty of room for improvement, considering that it’s just the start of the era which I’m sure we can overcome in time. It is my opinion that interactive art has come to stay and we have to evolve out of beautiful pictures and move ahead to take our country into the International art scene! For more information about Jeganathan Ramachandram and Symbols-House of Natural Art, please visit : jegaramachandram@blogspot.com