Artist portrays yogis through strokes of spirituality

At a young age of 4, Bangalore- based artist Bharat Thakur had left home to Himalayas to seek solitude and self-realisation.
After having spent around fourteen years under the tutelage of Aghoris, the artist portrayed the lives of these nomadic devotees of Shiva in a series of paintings at his recently concluded art show titled "Aureola-The Colours You Are".
"I wanted to trail each one of them. And that is the reason I go to visit them every five years and see what has changed spiritually in them," says Thakur.
It is not just the sense of solitude and lessons of strict yoga the artist has imbibed from them, but "a certain kind of energy directly connected to Lord Shiva" that has inspired him.

With four different painting techniques impasto acrylic technique, soft pastels, pen and ink on paper and terracotta sculptures, Thakur doesn't believe experimenting with different mediums instead of adopting one single style, which makes his style distinct from several other artists.
"When I start working on a canvas, I just portray what all I have learnt and observed in the subject that I want to paint. All of my works are connected to Lord Shiva because most of my inspiration comes from the eternal Adiyogi," he says.

While one of the portraits "Tapasya" showcases a Yogi in black and white with a deeper focus on the subject's eyes that emanate peace, "Shoonya" (Nothingness) portrays a yogi completely expressionless with his gaze locked far away.

"Most of the portraits here express the state of the yogis through their eyes. One can't paint tapasaya, spirituality or for that matter silence. It can only be showcased through the expressions that yogis hold in their eyes. That is what I try to reflect through my work," he says.
Given his style of painting spontaneously, Thakur usually takes around 15-20 minutes to complete an abstract and most of his portraits take 4-5 hours to complete.
"I usually take a couple of hours to complete any of my work. It takes me around half an hour to complete a piece of abstract while most of the portraits and other figurative art piece have been done within 4-5 hours," he says.

Thakur's work based on "pantheistic philosophy"- the doctrine which identifies God with the universe, also includes a series of sculptures that demonstrate different yoga asanas.
The exhibition was on display till October 24 at Visual Arts Gallery here.