(Top) A painting at the Art Era and visitors at the exhibition. Pictures by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, March 30: A woman’s beauty and the pain she endures at various stages of life have been etched on the canvas by several women artists from the state and are on display at Orissa Modern Art Gallery (OMAG).

The exhibition called Art Era concluded today.

Comparing the life of women with dolls, Nibedita Patnaik’s painting in acrylic depicted rows of traditional clay dolls of Orissa. She had also depicted a baby girl resting on a platform holding a magic wand in her tiny hands.

“Though people love playing with dolls and think of fairies when in trouble, evils such as female foeticide still exist,” said Patnaik.

Manjushree Das’ painting depicted vivid pictures of nature and women, presenting each as a metaphor of the other.

Karuna Priya Pui used shades of the night to create a picture of romance while Diana Mohapatra’s work was simple, yet effective, wherein a couch was placed at the centre of the canvas painted clear bright red. A woman was resting on another’s lap on the couch. A similar companionship among women was shown in many other works.

While the traditional painting by Aryapragyan illustrated three village lasses engaged in gossip, Bhagyashree’s two works showed women in groups who seemed to share each other’s sorrow and happiness.

Some of the highlights of the exhibition were the brilliant works by Atasi Basu who compared the case of Maya Miriga from the epic Ramayan with the growing attraction towards pleasure and luxury among people today, Lipishree Nayak’s contemporary piece with contrast shades and Jamuna Singh’s painting showcasing a blindfolded man who is seen transforming into a woman below the torso.

Visitors to the exhibition said they loved the paintings. “The various themes that the women artists have showcased are touching. It is also inspiring that so many artists have come together at a time when the state was lamenting the lack of female artists,” said Shubhra Pani, an art connoisseur.

Organiser Tarakant Parida said the three-day exhibition included works by 40 women artists who participated in an art camp held in Balasore on the occasion of Women’s Day.