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Will to paint will to live

There are some who live life, and there are others who live it king size. Usha Hooda, an artist, epitomises the latter. At first go it’s difficult to believe that she is a cancer survivor and is still battling daily. But her will to survive and fight back whilst creating art is truly an example of living life to the fullest.

Her art exhibition titled ‘Through my Eyes’ is her own view and interpretation of the beautiful world around her. ‘This will be my first solo exhibition. It captures the realism of my surroundings. Life and nature being the inspiration, I create a diverse range of paintings which includes nudes, trees, horses and the like. The paintings are textured in mediums like oil, charcoal and pastels. I mostly paint on archival paper, canvas, silk and wood,’ Usha says.

Hooda has been credited with four exhibitions till now, including group shows at gallery Ganesh and Art Farrago, and one at at Khazana at Taj Palace.

‘I feel an innate compulsion to paint. A desire which gets translated on paper. I get inspiration from the alternative lifestyle in the Himalayas. My views of life go beyond the mundane existence of our societies, where a vision of pure humanity exceeds all,’ she adds.

Speaking of versatility, Usha has also been a designer for years, working on interiors of studios, service apartments, villas and residential apartments. She is also into handmade quilts, textile prints, embroideries, handmade jackets and digitally printed saris.

‘I gave up my regular job after getting to know about my cancer. It beacme too painful for me. Now I design tapestry for a collector which mostly fetches me money for survival. Rest, I earn from my studio,’ Usha says.

Usha lives life with an unfettered passion, creating paintings and aesthetic spaces wherever she goes.

‘I believe life is what you make out of it and ceratinly not dictated by the society. I wish to lead a good life with simple wants and desires from here on. I am not dying to live and have no regrets at all,’ she says.


DETAIL

At: Visual Art Gallery, India Habitat Centre Lodi Road
When: 21 October– 24 October
Phone: 9711505335
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