Indian Artist Vignesh Rajs Thirukkural based painting won a Tamilnadu State Award

Vignesh Raj said art is a way of life; he can’t describe the thrill when he finish an art and see his hard work come to him. This Coimbatore based artist was the only one from his city to have recently won a state award issued by the International Institute of Tamil Studies, for his untitled painting based on the Thirukkural. Out of 465 entries, only 15 were selected. He honourably shares this victory with the artists like M Raja and Jemenne selva. Now the winning paintings are exhibited at the gallery of the International Institute of Tamil studies in Chennai.

Vignesh’s work done in acrylic shows a man and woman in love. He read the entire Thirukkural for this work and Chapter 112, known as Nalam Punainthuraithal. It discusses the ideas of love and beauty and decided to depict them in his work.

He says that it was not easy as he started the work just three days before the final date of submission. “I did not know of this competition till another artist told me about it. I quickly composed the work on paper and then painted it on a canvas. I worked for about three hours each day and submitted the piece in the first week of February,” he explains.

A full-time artist, Vignesh has participated in around 60 exhibitions across the country. Most of his works are inspired by Nature and the culture of Tamil Nadu. While acrylic is his favourite medium, he also works with oil, pencil and watercolours.

Vignesh is now preparing to exhibit his works in Mumbai and Dubai. “I am done with five paintings, all inspired by Nature. I cannot wait to go back to the galleries and see my works put up on the walls,” he adds hopefully.