HERALDING NOVEL ADDITIONS IN FLORAL ART

Ranjani Govind

It is a visual feast that awaits visitors at K. Kusum’s house at Jayanagar in Bengaluru. The entrance presents the multi-splendored Rangolis leading the visitors at her Tulasi Katte. It’s not just the floral art that her deft hands speak about, she is also a veena player whose guidance under Veena Doreswamy Iyengar took her on to many concert platforms.

“Today at 72, I am a home-bound artist with a special eye for creating assorted rangolis that see beyond aesthetics, and bring in an educational value. The idea of fashioning new rangolis took birth a few years ago during Sankranti. My mother, who could no more bend or sit on the floor, due to osteoporosis, insisted I carry on the tradition. Instantly I took to it and by divine grace flagged-off my creative trail - from traditional ones for all festive occasions, a rare mandala-based rangoli patterns to accommodating alphabets and numerals that would evoke curiosity among kids. If you can believe, my obsession led me to create 1,500 floral art configurations!” says Kusum as she spreads her prototypes on the floor.

A few years ago Kusum brought out nearly 500 intricate contemporary versions of rangoli patterns in the book titled ‘Lines Divine’ published by Prism Books. Apart from mainstream rangoli models that resemble temple art and infused with modern touches, ‘Lines Divine’ accommodates line drawings, patterns for shoulder bordering, side borders, filling up patterns, geometrical and floral variants, mythical characters, birds and leafy designs, all so flawlessly represented by hand-drawings.

Mandalas for Sankranti: Her huge file of prototypes with geometric configuration of symbols or Mandalas as it is known in Sanskrit is done with Sankranti representations. She has meticulously brought in sugarcane, yellu (sesame) and bella (jaggery) and a host of divine elements and fundamentals into her new set of Mandala-rangoli patterns.

What does this kind of representation mean? “Mandalas broadly have one selective midpoint from which develops a range of symbols, shapes and forms. They can symbolize both geometric and organic forms and exude imaginative visual appeal.

They can also contain recognizable images that carry meaning for the artist and for people who have the ability to envision other designs,” says Kusum who is planning to document her set of Mandala designs. “I have seen students getting busy with colouring books for leisure pursuits, Rangoli art and Mandalas too are equally interesting and far more creative to observe, learn and colour even for adults,” assures Kusum.

Making them relevant: To make any art relevant to modern minds, Kusum believes artists have to widen their horizon and present them to a cross-section of minds. “Although one grew up understanding the divine connect that the rangolis symbolize, the expansions saw my book ‘Lines Divine,’ take shape, followed by my 130 fun-rangolis for children, and now the Mandala Art.

They are all extensions of my basic love for floral art.” Kusum’s father, late musicologist S. Krishnamurthy who retired as Station Director, All India Radio and her mother Devaki Murthy, author of 25 Kannada novels, often observed with awe Kusum’s ingenious patterns that saw traditional art embracing contemporary avatars. “My father told me that Mandalas were a common feature of Buddhist paintings and art forms. Mayans and Australian aborigines, and some devout Europeans are said to have created Mandalas in one form or the other,” says Kusum.

The beginning… The English Literature student Kusum the great grand-daughter of the legendary composer Mysore Vasudevachar - finds her journey on the drawing board a memorable ‘learning curve’ though it was an unfamiliar terrain. “When my aunt Parimala from Mysore would see me draw with a hawk’s eye for hours, she nudged me into documenting them, as ‘they are expressions that can be computerized and used in various mediums of art.’” Some of her designs can also be used for kundan work or as standalone paintings.

The line drawings can be used as intricate crafting in jewellery, on ceramic tiles, or even copied for sari embroidery or fabric design. Kusum’s son Vasudev K, a software engineer, wanted his mother’s art to reach interesting mediums. He helped with re-crafting them for greeting cards, crockery, bookmarks, pottery and T-shirts, even as traditional painter Radhakrishna Shastri guided Kusum in modelling her art to suit all mediums.