Tarika Ram Handwoven Tapestry Exhibition Taneira Adyar

From paintings in the past, this teenager has now graduated into Handwoven Tapestry and will be showcasing a dozen of her art works at a 2day exhibition next Friday and Saturday

Tarika has now learnt a gamut of new techniques and developed the ability to conceptualize outside the box. Picking up a complicated topic like a 180 degree view of the Thiruvannamalai hill and wanting to sketch that in a series of paintings is a remarkable thought - Art Mentor Diana Shatish 

ஓதிமா மலர்கள் தூவி உமையவள் பங்காமிக்க

சோதியே துளங்கும் எண்தோள் சுடர்மழுப் படையினானே

ஆதியே அமரர் கோவே அணிஅணாமலைஉளானே 

நீதியால் நின்னை அல்லால் நினையுமாறு நினைவிலேனே- Appar on the hill of Thiruvannamalai

Into her final year as a teenager, Tarika Ram is making rapid strides in the art world. In August last year, she had presented 30 of her art works on the theme of ‘Art of Happiness’ at a glittering event at Kalpa Druma. A year later, she is now back with a new theme and a new vertical in the art world. She is now into weaving as a new medium weaving gels with tapestries and has been honing her weaving skills at Shuttles & Needles. Inspired by South Indian saree patterns and using multiple colours, she has worked on a dozen pieces that she will be showcasing next week and calls her forthcoming exhibition a celebration of India’s rich handloom tradition. Tarika says that it is the constant coaxing from her mentor to conceptualise creatively and explore a gamut of media, techniques & movements that she has led into this new medium, this time around. Her mentor's encouragement to draw inspiration from her own life as well as the Indian art has shaped a lot of artistic work over the years.

Since the event at Kalpa Druma, she has gone on to present her art on wide ranging subjects such as birds, climate change and 'Love as a universal language'. She has also presented a triptych (Panel Painting) during this phase.

Currently, she is in the process of expanding her horizon attending clay and wire sculpture classes. Next on her plate are plans to improve her weaving in making tableware.

 

Her father Srivats Ram, the CMD of Wheels India had told this writer earlier that her series of 30 works last year on the art of happiness was a big leap of faith for Tarika for it marked her moving away from her comfort zone of 'Paintings' to Tapestry and Textile in this exhibition.

In the year since, she has moved full-fledged into handwoven tapestry that has now resulted in her producing a dozen works of art.

Her passion for art had kicked off with a series on Thiruvalluvar’s Thirukkural. For the first time, she will now be directly associating herself with a temple and a legendary one at that.   

தேனைக்‌ காவல்‌ கொண்டு விண்ட

  கொன்றைச்‌ செழுந்‌ தாராய்‌! 

வானைக்‌ காவல்‌ கொண்டு நின்றார்

 ‌ அறியா நெறியானே! 

ஆனைக்காவில்‌ அரனே! பரனே!

  அண்ணாமலையானே !

ஊனைக்‌ காவல்‌ கைவிட்டு, உன்னை

  உகப்பார்‌ உணர்வாரே.

Her art mentor for over a decade, Ms. Diana Shatish, who Tarika says has been instrumental in shaping her artistic abilities & sensibilities, told this writer that Tarika has now learnt a gamut of new techniques and developed the ability to conceptualize outside the box. “She has picked complicated topics like 180 degree views of the arunachala mountains and experimented materials and media and weaving on her own.  I see her becoming big and making a name for herself in the art world”, says Ms. Diana.

Following the exhibition next week, she will be progressing with a series of paintings on the huge hill, one where several thousands of devotees undertake the Girivalam every month on the full moon day.

Ramana Maharishi has presented verses on the greatness of the hill of Thiruvannamalai

அறிவறு கிரியென வமர்தரு மம்மா வதிசய மிதன்செய லறிவரி தார்க்கு

மறிவறு சிறுவய ததுமுத லருணா சலமிகப் பெரிதென வறிவினி லங்க

வறிகில னதன்பொரு ளதுதிரு வண்ணா மலையென வொருவரா லறிவுறப் பெற்று

மறிவினை மருளுறுத் தருகினி லீர்க்க வருகுறு மமயமி தசலமாக் கண்டேன்

Her mother, Aruna told this writer that Tarika has been visiting the Ramana Ashram in Tiruvannamalai right from the time she was a child. The periodic visits to the historic temple location drew her close to the huge hill over a period of time and that inspiration has led her to now looking at a series of sketches on the sacred hill of Tiruvannamalai.

The Painting Series on the sacred hill of Arunachaleswarar at Thiruvannamalai, praised by the Saivite Saint Poets as well as Ramana Maharishi, would be a momentous occasion for Tarika. This section will track the developments on that front.

Tarika will present a dozen of her latest handwoven tapestry works at a two day exhibition next week starting Friday at Taneira Adyar.