Kozhikode: Artist etches out green memories

KOZHIKODE: Travel always inspired Melbin’s imagination. It later graduated into creativity. Hailing from Manakkadavu, Kannur, Melbin Thomas, brought out a visual treat through her picturesque documentation of her travel.

The exhibition ‘Imme-morial Greens’ that is on at Lalitha Kala Art Gallery showed her love for the road and hills, the eternal greenery and pristine nature. The paintings unveiled the unnoticed charm of  mesmerising nature during her travel through Coorg in Karnataka, Sikkim, West Bengal, Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.

A former employee of National Institute of Fashion Technology, Melbin had completed her higher education in arts and aesthetics from MS University, Baroda and Government College of fine arts, Thiruvananthapuram. In many paintings the viewer could feel her attempts to recall the forgotten details of life on the move, rich in greens. Verdure always rolled out as art form in her, stroked in water colour, acrylic and oil paint and she believes that every artist possesses a ‘I am at your service and you can possess a piece of mine. The body of representation becomes meaningful with the viewers identification’.

“We need to identify nature to be part of our own existence. Such a sensitisation from childhood will not lead to destructive practices,” said Melbin.

‘Mampoyil in Coorg near my native place remained unaffected during the flood solely because of the thick forest there. “Nature is also getting neglected just like minorities and women are sidelined. The current climate crisis is the price we are paying for it,” she added. The exhibition inaugurated by M.G. Mallika, assistant professor in Guruvayoorapan College, will conclude on Sunday. A full time artist since 2010, she is currently a fellow under the aspiring artists fellowship instituted by department of cultural affairs, Government of Kerala. She had conducted two solo painting exhibitions.