Komakula Raja Sekhar’s goats star in his solo art exhibition at Chennai’s Focus Gallery

Komakula Raja Sekhar’s goats star in his solo art exhibition at Chennai’s Focus Gallery

First, you notice the goats. With distinct personalities and cheeky expressions, they frolic across Komakula Raja Sekhar paintings. “I noticed that goats look different everywhere. In my village, they are smaller, the ones in Shantiniketan are tall, and in Hyderabad they have long ears,” says Komakula, leaning forward earnestly to point out the differences in his paintings.

This attention to detail is evident in Komakula’s solo show Choreographing Nature, now on at Focus Art Gallery. Using pencils, ink pens and water colours on thick acid-free paper, the artist, who was born in Narsipatnam, near Vishakapatnam, brings his childhood alive with cheerful references to home in his work.

Growing up in the village, where he says his father raised pet roosters, some of whom now strut across his canvases, Komakula says he always wanted to be an artist. “I would draw cartoons for school competitions,” he says, adding that his uncle encouraged him to pursue a Masters in Fine Arts at Shantiniketan.

He specialised in printmaking, learning different styles from etching to old school lithography. “I chose it because there are so many possibilities with printmaking, you can play with textures.” he says. Over the years his work evolved gradually, influenced by his travels. He started adding elephants, for instance, after a visit to the Vishakapatnam zoo. And the typical Telangana houses he draws, began getting brighter after he saw the homes in Goa.

Influenced by the iconic artist Laxma Goud, who he met at a studio in Hyderabad, Komakula puts a lot of work into each intricate painting. “When I sit alone, and the paper is empty, I draw a tree trunk,” he says. “Then I put flowers at the base. Then I start work on the leaves, which take a long time.”

He points at a painting to explain how the leaves are drawn and painted in, in a gradient of colour that imitates Nature. “I use coffee, turmeric and tea for the different shades,” he explains, explaining how turmeric tints the leaves a pleasing shade of gold.

“I was working with just browns and blacks earlier, I moved to colour in 2020,” says Komakula, adding that he started with natural dyes and blue-pea flowers for colour, then added in watercolours.