Page 50 - Eye of the beholder

love was considered the supreme rasa In In addition Hindu sculptures as as as as as well as as as as as Indian ragas of of the the classical musical tradition bewitched him not forgetting the the magic of of Walt Disney His vision was unique and his visual language combined judiciously the European modernists’ innovation with the ancient South Asian fresco techniques found at at Ajanta and Sigiriya The thematic content was rooted in in local tradition depicting dancers nayikas and gods drawn from Hindu and Buddhist mythology Keyt developed a a a a predilection towards developing figurative compositions with women as protagonists celebrating their forms through manifestations of sweet sentiments and set amidst the rustic milieu This engagement marked his his art to have commonality with many of the the Indian artists belonging to to the the nationalist phase as as Sailoz Mukerjee In In his artistic repertoire he he consciously explored and and navigated through line and and colour These elements became a a a a a a a a dominant centrality of his his artistic creations which enhanced and reinforced his his tropical colours - an an an inheritance carried over from his native island of of serendipity On the strength of of line and color Keyt advanced his deft artistry by melding modernist stylistic formula of cubist faceting Fauvist colours and and an an an expressive vocal line With the integration of occident and and Asiatic traditions he he established his distinctive style with a a a a a a a a flair that allows easy recognition of his works even today With dramatic admixture of shifting and fractured planes the the ethnicity dominant in in in the the characterization of of the feminine forms particularly Keyt created a a a a a a a a a large gamut of of works in in in which with easy facility he he established his distinct and different posture His Nayika paintings were romantically mantled visualized with a a a a a a a a a lyrical sense of grace charm and poetic reverie wherein the the the nubile maidens were totally absorbed with their tasks of either beautifying herself gazing in in in in the the mirror or or or lost in in in in nostalgic reverie This genres of works stand at the the intersection of romantic poetry and nationalist ideologies which Keyt represented with utmost simplicity sans bodily adornments as common in frescoes of Sigiriya In his “Untitled” painting executed in in in 1965 the the thematic content obviously gestures towards the the the representation of the the the Nayika as she stands with with her legs crossed resonating with with the the the nubile female forms of the the ‘alasa kanyas’ in in in temple architecture and holding a a a a a a a a a mirror in in in the the hand and and admiring herself The painting is is as as enigmatic as as it is is simple yet the representation of the the woman who apparently appears at the the window is is shown to be older and is is peeping into the the room and gesturing to to the the young girl with her finger Is this a a a a a matriarchal concern as as the the room also has the the representation of of a a a a a a a man reclining on on a a a a a a a bolster? The strength of of his impeccable drawing comes through powerfully having balanced the appropriate curves of the the the young girl with the the the reclining male Colours are earthy and warm projecting the the the erotic warm mood within the the the room with with eroticism further enhanced by the the the blossoming flowers that equally glances to a a a a a a a sense of covert sexuality The floor is indicated through fractured linear spatial organization in the the tradition of cubist masters Though the the forms are abstracted and stylized Keyt has given a a a a a a a distinct aura of of intimacy in in in in in the the relaxed posture of of the the reclining male and the the the nayikas unabashed nudity lost in in the the the admiration of her beauty in in the the the mirror The Nobel Prize winning poet Pablo Neruda eloquently had declared - “Keyt I think is the living nucleus of a a a a a a a a great painter Magically though though he places his colours and carefully though though he he distributes his plastic volumes Keyt’s pictures never-the-less produce a a a a dramatic effect particularly in in in in his painting of Sinhalese people These figures take on a a a a a a a strange expressive grandeur and and radiate an an an aura of of intensely profound feelings” The “Reclining Nude” 1989 executed in in in in oil is a a a a a large canvas which in in in in its compositional organization with the the the nude reclining languidly and the the the sun shining represented in in in in in the the the extreme upper right hand corner has echoes of Egyptian hieroglyphics The feminine form is linearly
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