An artist forever
Thota Vaikunt-am greets you at his gate with a huge smile and once the conversation begins to flow one realises that despite being one of the most famous artists from the state, he has absolutely no airs.
As his work has always centred on the “people and culture of Telangana”, Vaikunt-am talks about why he chose Telan-gana as his subject.
“In the 80’s my mother was ill; it was then that I took up the art seriously,” he explains. It’s been a few decades since he started painting and neither has the enthusiasm faded nor his brushwork. “An artist can never forget to paint, unless he has a memory issue,” he says, adding, “Look at Husain, he painted even the day before he died.”
But unlike Husain, the artist does not have a muse. “I don’t work like that. I’ve always been influenced by the culture and people around me when I grew up.” And his eyes light up when asked about his village, “I would wake up to the sound of masalas pounding and the jingle of my mother’s bangles; all this has left a mark on me,” he says.
His work depicts women from Telan-gana, ask him how different his work would be if he was born in the 90’s, he says, “It’s not the era one is born in, the atmosphere in which you’re brought up makes a huge difference. And who’s to know, I might have still done the same work.”
Apart from his art, not many are aware that Vaikuntam also taught at Bal Bhavan, “It was in ’85, I taught there for 15 years.”
“Laxman Aelay and Suryaprakash are my close friends. I also follow their work.”
He’s more than 70 years now, but has no plans of laying down the brush. “Reti-ring? No, I’ll continue to paint until I absolutely can’t. I’ve cut down on my paintings, as it takes time to finish them now. I sketch everyday though.”
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