THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Artist Kanakasanan P believes that elephants are the most majestic of animals. His collection of paintings ‘Paintana’, is a tribute to the towering beauty of the giant mammal. Through his thirty paintings, he has tried to portray the animal as an ideal mother and a being with a distinct identity.His works are mostly in acrylic and a few are done in oil. ‘The Ruler (Fake)’, is a painting depicting a caparisoned elephant between two poles and monkeys around it. The work denotes a situation where the elephant, the symbol of a ruler, is caught in situations that make it powerless. Instead of the elephant, it is the mahout who rules, making a fool of the subjects.An untitled work which has multi-coloured elephant faces, was done in one stroke, says the artist. A combination of white, red, blue, green and yellow is used to show the different feelings and emotions of the animal.Kanakasanan has worked on his yellow and red elephants with a mixture of zinc oxide and fevicol along with acrylic paints to get a thick paste-like appearance on the canvas. “Elephant calves are so much like human children. They quarrel with each other for silly reasons,” says Kanakasanan. He has painted two elephant calves teasing each other in a tusk fight to show the naivete of the little ones.Exploring the well-known motherly care that she-elephants give to off-spring, he has painted the picture of a mamma elephant with its calf held close to her. The mother has lifted up its trunk to make the posture comfortable for its baby. This painting, having a knife work finish, is done in acrylic.Next to this, is a painting completed using knife and the mid-rib of coconut leaves titled ‘Aana Moham’ or elephants’ desire. The picture has a caparison in the centre and elephant trunks stretching out towards it. The painting denotes two wishes, one being the desire of the caparison to be laid over the most majestic elephant and other being the craving of each elephant to have it worn over it.To taunt the ladies who wear gold necklaces similar to caparisons, he has painted women adorned with jewellery from head to foot and rivalling the pomp and show of the ornamented elephant. No wonder, he has named it ‘Steal the Show’. The exhibition concluded at Gorky Bhavan on Thursday.
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