Chandigarh was witness to a fine painting exhibition on Saturday (2nd Aug) by a young and upcoming, but extremely talented and versatile artist – Sai Priya Mahajan. The exhibition, titled “Quaint Reflections”, was inaugurated by the renowned Artist Ravinder Sharma (Professor at the Govt. College of Art and Former Secretary of Lalit Kala Academy) at 11:30 am. Prof. Ravinder Sharma cut the ribbon to the exhibition and spent a lot of time in his tour where he closely observed all the paintings and shared his feedback and appreciation with the artist. He was highly impressed by the works on display in this exhibition and had very inspiring and encouraging words for the artist. “The essence of each creation lies in sharing its delight. You are going to experience the myriad hues of your creations through the joyous expressions of your admirers. Heartiest best wishes.”, he commented. The paintings he loved the most were “IIT Bombay Main Gate” – a re-creation of a scenic view from Sai Priya’s college IIT Bombay and “Sunset at Sukhna Lake” – a painting of a favorite spot of one and all from Chandigarh.
One of India’s most accomplished watercolor artists, Prof. Bheem Malhotra was the Guest of Honor at the occasion. He lit the inaugural lamp and was delighted to see the finesse and skill in the watercolors paintings being displayed.
Sai Priya was super thrilled to have two of the most reputed artists from Chandigarh at the inauguration. “Nothing can beat this. I grew up admiring Ravinder Sharma and Bheem Malhotra and to agree to come to the exhibition, and to hear such kinds words of appreciation is a feeling I will remember the rest of my life. It also inspires me to improve my skill, explore new styles of painting and move ahead on my plans in this field with even more rigor and enthusiasm!”, she said.
The exhibition is extremely well organized and provides enough to keep you entertained for quite some time. Each painting is accompanied by an interesting description that explains its style of painting, the inspiration and the message from the artist’s point of view. The exhibition is open till Sunday, 11am to 7 pm at Punjab Kala Bhawan, Sector-16 and is recommended for any art lover in the city.
About the exhibition:
The artworks on display in this exhibition, aptly titled Quaint Reflections, are an eclectic mix of styles and subjects, in the usual watercolors and the occasional charcoal, pencil or oil. An all-rounder herself, Sai’s multi-faceted personality and charming vivacity are clearly reflected in her artworks. With subjects ranging from seascapes to street views and from beaches to woods, the paintings aim to help us recall that “which we see… but tend to not notice…”. Be it a balcony covered with colorful flowers and plants, or the snapshot of a road lined on both sides with bougainvillea plants on a rainy evening, by highlighting certain elements while suppressing the others, Sai provides a unique perspective to the otherwise mundane scenes. Her favorite work however, is an eye-catching rendition of a scenic view from her beloved college – IIT Bombay, also one of the most beautiful college campuses in the country.
About the Artist’s inspiration and style of painting:
On her inspiration to paint, she talks about having grown up in the beautiful city of Chandigarh with abundant picturesque scenes all around. She feels that at times, one can convey a unique and strong emotion via a painting that is otherwise difficult to put in words. She believes that her paintings are a medium of expression not just for herself, but will also resonate with many others who will be able to relate to it as much as she does.
Sai does not believe in sticking to a certain style of painting and wants to keep learning and experimenting. There are many different styles that appeal to her and thanks to the abundant videos and tutorials available online, quite a few of the paintings on display in this exhibition are inspired by globally renowned artists and their techniques, that she saw on Youtube. Techniques like wet in wet, washes, glazes and color lifting by re-wetting and blotting can be frequently observed in her works.
About Sai Priya Mahajan:
All of 25, Sai has an envious list of achievements under her belt. An Electrical Engineer from IIT Bombay, she has done the city proud in the past by securing an AIR of 288 at IIT-JEE and an AIR of 73 at AIEEE. Taking the road less travelled and following her passions is not new for this talented lady. An entrepreneur at heart, she took the rare decision to pass on a lucrative MNC offer to join an early stage e-commerce start-up, UrbanTouch.com, right after graduating from IIT Bombay. The start-up was subsequently acquired by another e-commerce company in late 2012.
Sai Priya realized her keen interest in painting by the age of 12. Some of her work from those days was so ahead of its time that it has even managed to find a position in her exhibition today. While academics and professional pursuits have kept her busy for the past 12 years, her passion to paint only faded to the background but never disappeared. This inherent desire to paint has found a way for itself now as she puts up her first exhibition on the coming weekend. She says that she realized that if she had to pursue painting seriously then there was no better way to do it than to start doing it right away, which resonates with her belief that if you want to do something, then there is no better time to do it than ‘now’. While Sai is now all set to pursue her childhood dream of becoming an artist, she has no plans of sidetracking her professional career, where she has been equally active and successful over the last three years – working with two technology start-ups, one of which was acquired after only one and a half years of founding. She believes that in order to achieve one thing you don’t always need to give up on something else. An engineer, an upcoming artist, an aspiring fashion designer and a vocalist, she is a great proponent of multi-tasking and her only constant worry is that life is too short to achieve and do everything that she plans to do.