Juror Mark Cameron Boyd chose the mixed-media painting Tamil by Shanthi Chandrasekar as winner of the Urquhart Award for best in show in this month’s all-media exhibit. Boyd said the piece “has a commanding atmospheric presence, persona. The way in which the texture merges and fades in and out of the symbols is intriguing and mysterious. The luminous color, hue, and varied textures are just wonderful.”
We asked Shanthi to tell us about the process behind the painting.
Tamil has a mysterious energy and a rich, gritty texture that doesn’t come through in a photograph. Can you tell us about the process behind the piece — how you built up the painting and created the texture and color?
Shanthi: This painting just started as a series of layers of medium and paint with no idea of the end product. I placed it on my deck outdoors so I could create the multiple layers using various media. I started out with different acrylic mediums like stucco, fiber etc. then added pigments and dripped acrylic paint. Sometimes I would paint wet on wet and at other times wait for the layer to dry before adding another layer. The use of powdered pigments created interesting patterns that were very organic, especially when I rubbed them on the uneven surface. Sometimes I would slant the canvas so the paint could drip on the surface when it is wet or dry. It led to some very interesting texture. I just scratched in the letters when the surface was wet and liked the effect. So I started with old Tamil letters and then added more layers of paint to fade them away till I reached the more recent version that is displayed today.
What materials and tools did you use? Are those pieces of leaves and pine needles?
I used acrylic based gel mediums and paints. I also used dry powdered pigments for the first time. As for the tools, I used brushes, cardboard, Popsicle sticks, twigs and other tools to create the texture. As I had mentioned earlier, I was working outdoors and that helped create some of the texture. One afternoon as soon as I had applied a fresh coat of medium and paint, a sudden thunderstorm blew twigs and leaves onto the surface. As the surface was still wet, they got adhered to it and became part of the painting.
Can you tell us about the Akshara series and the place of the letters in the painting?
I grew up in a very small cosmopolitan town in India. My classmates, who were from different parts of India, spoke and wrote different languages, and I always wanted to learn these languages. Seeing my fascination of different languages, my daughter suggested that I should paint them and the Akshara (Syllable) series began. I received a grant from the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County, MD, to create 20 large Akshara paintings and Tamil was the last one I made in the that series. Now I have covered 26 different languages and it is an ongoing series. Continue reading Q&A with Award Winner Shanthi Chandrasekar
