Art from core of heart

“It was the spiritual insistence that guided me 40 years ago while seeing the picture of famous painter Bapu,” says Sailaja Anam, a passionate 78-year-old artist.  

Born and brought up in a small village Mypadu in Andhra Pradesh, Sailaja had her schooling in Nellore. An affectionate mother, a dedicated housewife and a working woman as well, she nourished and developed her own desire for creating something uncommon. She started painting and 60 of her paintings, ‘Visions’, are being exhibited at The Folly, Amethyst here.

‘Babuji’ Maharaj became her spiritual instinct of life and she just made it happen, according to Sailaja who has come down to Chennai for exhibiting her artwork on Saturday and Sunday.

“I paint from the inner recesses of my body. I like to celebrate our shared humanity and capture the marks people make in the world. I paint faces as it is key through which we see ourselves and the way we are seen. I mainly paint women to honour ourselves and our struggles”, she says.

Apart from household work and bringing up children, she started poultry farm. She has also been doing block printing of sarees, rearing a nursery and nourishing paddy fields. She also had organic fertilizers. 

She prepares her own canvas — cloth canvas —  for oil paintings. She replicates what she captures in her mind’s eye, says her daughter Tanuja. 

Apart from her all hobbies, she has a passion for cooking too. “The art exhibition is only to honour over 300 paintings done by my mom”, her daughter adds.