Bhubaneswar, Aug. 11: The painting of a mother carrying her child on her back caught the attention of many visitors at an exhibition organised recently at Rashtriya Lalit Kala Akademi here.

Artists from various states expressed themselves on canvas using different mediums at the exhibition titled Monsoon Showers.

Altogether 28 paintings were exhibited that were made during a five-day camp hosted at BK College of Art and Craft in March this year.

Local artists also portrayed their ideas at the exhibition. They worked with oil, acrylic, mixed media and watercolours.

"The exhibition was hosted to mark the foundation day of the art institution. For the artists, both north-eastern and local, we wanted to provide a platform for artistic exchange," said secretary of the regional branch of Lalit Kala Akademi, Ramakrishan Vedala.

Most of the paintings represented abstract ideas and there was a lot of use of bright colours. Nature was a popular subject for painters as well as in drawings and sketches.

Vithuse Temi, a painter from Nagaland, made a painting titled The Ugly Truth, which highlighted the urge to stay young forever.

Work of an artist from Mizoram, V. Lalzowmkima, depicted the cultural spirit of his state. "People here don't know much about my home because I live in one of the farthest corners of the country. The exhibition gave me an opportunity to interact with many artists," he said.

Odia artist Sai Satya Ranjan Sahoo drew a crumbling potter's wheel and compared it with the life of a potter.

The exhibition concluded today with an interaction session between the artists. "I also came to know about the popularity of paintings in other states and various mediums that they use," said Pinaki Mohanty, a local artist.