A journey through abstraction at the Art House

At Art Haus, the walls come alive – not with paintings or landscapes, but with the language of abstraction. Here, colors interact, merge and integrate to create shapes and forms that tell stories of their own. The ongoing exhibition titled Echoes in Color brings together the diverse works of 17 artists. Some canvases look familiar, like pieces of a house; Others bring a sense of what home could be like.

From Karishma Wadhwa’s series Opus. Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Take, for example, Karishma Wadhwa’s series called Opus, which is inspired by her travels around the world and her experiences moving between cities like Chennai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Mumbai. “I noticed that people are often obsessed with their origins and view everything through the lens of their home and identity. I realized that when I stepped back and looked at the world as a whole, my home and identity were just a small piece. This realization became an important aspect of my work.” In his paintings, the viewer initially sees structures and forms, but upon stepping back, they see smaller details, colors, and hidden underlying layers.

“We have brought together artists who work around the theme of the exhibition, where they are not creating any kind of form, but letting the colors and textures do more of the talking on the canvas,” says Purnima Sivaram, curator of the exhibition.

Isairasi Annamalai’s series Aakash | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Chennai-based Isairasi Annamalai’s series Aakash highlights the concept of space, exploring the ever-changing nature of forms within it. The different shades of blue in the series represent the changing quality of space – light and dark, near and far, known and unknown. “Through decomposed forms and the subtle play of colors and textures, I aim to invite the viewer into a journey of discovery, where the boundaries between form and void blur, and where the space itself becomes a living, breathing entity.”

Pooja C’s series Abstraction in Kaleidoscope | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

In Pooja C’s series Abstraction in Kaleidoscope, we are instantly transported to our childhood days when we held a kaleidoscope in our hands and felt the joy of watching the changing colors and forms. “My experiments and studies with the geometry of abstract forms have gradually led me to see the kaleidoscope as a reference point and as a tool that creates beautiful forms, patterns, geometric shapes and colors. I am completely attracted to this concept sattva quality, An Indian philosophy that talks about purity, goodness and harmony in painting with the use of bold colors and shapes to define joy, intelligence, positivity, divinity and happiness.

S Anand’s woven colors Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

In S Anand’s Woven Hues series, he uses the sgraffito technique to create an essence of the impasto style, where he applies thick layers of color in two layers to achieve a textured effect. The result is a piece that has an underlying coating of contrasting colors. “To achieve the result of the sgraffito technique, I scratch away the top layer of paint while still wet, so that a lower layer of a different color is visible. In the technique, I can use a variety of tools, such as the edge of a painting knife, the tip of a brush handle, a wire brush, or any sharp instrument.”

Through these works, a dialogue of color, texture and emotion emerges – a reminder that art exists in all forms and emotions.

Echoes in Color will run from 10 am to 6:30 pm till November 5 at Art Haus, Nungambakkam. Entry fee.