Tranquil moments in the Kumaon hills

A work titled “Looking At The Sea Thru Bushes” showcased at India International Centre

Artist Manju Kak captured the timeless landscape of the Kumaon hills, in particular Ranikhet Cantonment in the recently concluded exhibition titled “Ranikhet State Of Mind”. The exhibition showcased a collection of 41 works both old and new, in oil and watercolour on canvas and paper executed in the tranquil moments. Her quest essentially remains to unravel the centrifugal force of what at that given moment grips her imagination. She returns to her palette after a long hiatus with this exhibition that is a metaphorical allusion to the ‘sanctity’ of seeking refuge.

For this exhibition she drew inspiration from her retreat place, an old British style gabled bungalow ‘Knock Fierna’, which literally mean ‘Where the Faeries Knock’. She shares, “It is surrounded by an untouched Cantonment forest of chestnut, banj (a stunted local oak), devdar (conifer) and chir (pine), and a profusion of flowering bushes and ferns. The house is my place for reflection, recollection and remembrance, and where creativity flows uninterrupted.”

Through this exhibition she has tried to capture some of that feeling on canvas and paper, in oils and watercolours. Talking about the medium she says, “Oil on canvas is the queen of all art mediums. One has to apply layer after layer to build up to a final picture. In the process one also filters one's thoughts so that slowly your original idea is fleshed out to reveal its essence — its core — and the whole process is meditational and therapeutic. Nothing compares to this. Also I love the smell of turpentine on canvas.”