Ramesh Gorjala is a young artist from Andhra Pradesh who comes from a family of traditional craftsmen. His father weaves Venkatgiri saris and his grandfather did kalamkari. Ramesh in his late 20s is himself an award-winning kalamkari artist, but was later trained in painting at Jawaharlal Technological University, Hyderabad. Ramesh lives and works at Srikalahasti. So he combines received wisdom with knowledge of contemporary practices to create paintings of Hindu gods and goddesses and mythic beings on canvas.

With fluid and supple lines he draws one large figure of the central character and depicts his (invariably male) exploits on his body itself. Vishnu avatar, Hanuman, Arjun, Krishna and Garuda are some of his subjects. Using acrylic paint he tells their story kalamkari style. The floating figures are ornamental and he gives them enough breathing space for them not to look crowded. In many of the scenes depicted even the divine beings are engaged in activities that may not please some zealots. But the images date back to times when people were more liberal in certain matters. He does manage to create a sense of rhythm, particularly when he draws the trees of life, and although he uses synthetic colours he gives them a “natural” look.

It is easy to label his work an extension of craft, but his skills as a draughtsman are highly evolved. This is obvious from the way he fits in the large figures within the confines of each rectangular canvas without them looking awkward in the least. He uses a limited number of colours — brown, green, red and black — and uses them sparingly. The figures are outlined with black and a fine paintbrush. It will be interesting to see whether Gorjala breaks out of this world of myths and attacks the real world with vigour. Gorjala’s works are being exhibited at Mon Art Gallerie.