When peace comes calling on canvas

Shuchi Gupta gave up a lucrative nine-to-five job to pursue painting, and she insists on calling it a hobby. ‘Samanvaya, Peace and Harmony’ is Shuchi’s debut solo exhibition at the Sahara Star in Mumbai with a display of 20-odd stories.

Though a slightly cliched title, the work displayed is high on substance as Gupta translates her personal journey onto canvas. “I try to put on canvas what I feel at that point in time and am least concerned about saleability. For me, the Buddha is the most inspiring icon that I love to portray on canvas,” said Shuchi.

An admirer of Anjolie Ela Menon, she says, “My paintings are about hope, peace, sunshine, flowers, birds, burning lamps, spirituality, and mother-child paintings. The sun and the moon are symbolic here of sunshine (day) and blue for calmness (night).”

Her paintings are in oil, acrylic, watercolour and oil pastels on wood paper and canvas.

“The response to my first exhibition here has been encouraging, and despite the fact that I have not been to an art school, I have been able to sell four paintings already,” she said.

Her night landscapes in blue are peaceful and generate a serene, sombre mood. Her paintings on Buddha are central in composition, executed in sepia with an acute understanding of light and shade.