DAMMAM, 16 June 2007 — Dr. Ranjit Divakaran, a consultant maxillofacial surgeon at the Air Base Hospital in Dhahran, is an artist with a message. His collection of paintings titled “Textures and Colors” is a reflection of expatriate life in the Middle East that seeks to capture some of the psychological aspects of being strangers in foreign lands.
Though colors and brushes have always been a passion for the doctor, the pursuit of a medical career and the related demands kept his artistic passion on the sidelines. In the last two years he started taking up this passion in a more serious way. Recently he completed a diploma in Liberal Arts from Penn Foster in Pennsylvania.
Divakaran has exhibited his art works in a number of group shows. Recently he staged his first solo exhibition in the Eastern Province city of Alkhobar, drawing a large number of Saudi and foreign art lovers. “Having attended a lot of art shows in the region, art works with textures always amused and attracted me. I also took some informal training in texturing from one leading Iraqi artist named Firyal,” he told Arab News.
Divakaran has enjoyed experimenting with different texturing media and finally evolved a style. “I developed this unique style by applying the material using needles and syringes,” he said. All the works done for the Alkhobar show were based on this texturing style and acrylic paints, he added.
Having been in the Middle East for quite some time, he has seen and felt the pulse of the expatriate community. “I feel there are lots to be proud of and happy. Unfortunately there is a lot more factors that make us sometimes confused,” he said. Through “Textures and Colors” the artist presented his reflections on expatriates through a combination of color mixing and texture proximity.
Expatriates, he said, sometimes give brilliance and joy and sometimes bring shame and pain. “The bulk of the community members at some point of time go through the second one,” he said. “This may be a general syndrome, but for some ill-defined reason has been seen more specifically in the expatriate community. “Textures and Colors” is an attempt to reflect and challenge this so-called Psychosclerois,” he added.
“While creating these textures, I take breaks to re-evaluate the work, from different angles and different light. This is the cornerstone toward successful redirection. I wanted to provide a matrix with my works to see us from outside. Why did the qualities like persistence, focus and vision gradually get diluted in an expatriate community here, or is just getting smudged by psychosis?” the artist asked.
Divakaran obtained his bachelor and master’s degrees from the Kerala University and his fellowship and advanced surgical training from the United Kingdom.
