The usual question that haunts a child when he watches the heavens inspired me to make an attempt to visually present the magnificence of the creation and our humbleness. I have been fortunate enough to be at a planetarium, which added to touch of science to my art.
I have tried to render the unseen moments of our origin on to the canvas. As an artist I was perceptive to colours in the world surrounding us. Playing with colours became an important part of my life and helped me to enjoy many aspects that had been unnoticed before. And then viewing, the world through astronomer's eyes changed that. Colours became different – they meant different things! Colours and brightness had an astronomical language of their own that open it self to my eyes.
A traveler inside me takes me the different places; in my dreams, in my life, make me enjoy love between the earth and the sky and my nature. Their purest love which is witnessed by Sun in most scared spirits. Their portrait of Love and passion on the canvas gives me the strength to live and dream. Her green eyes, his blue soul has given me another reason to love my nature and this is my way to pay my tribute to it.
Who said scientist couldn't feel nature and artists cannot depict science. Our Universe full of colours and emotions that can inspire the whole generation of artists, I am one of them. As scientist say, colours tells them the history of the source and I try to give them their soul. Colours – Nothing but my nature existing everywhere but its not their soul existence but their combine unity that makes my Universe a place to love and emergence of new life. An unsaid silence is pervading in the Universe, BLACK, but my Universe is not just black in colour but full of joy. Colours spread all over this black sheet to depict the most massive structures and in the same time full of life and give you the assurance of being with someone you. I always made a genuine attempt to merge an artist's imagination with this scientific world of facts. All the time students comes to me to tell science is difficult but it came very naturally to me, when I throw whole of the scientific world on my canvas.
One of the most beautiful events of heavens is sadly associated with mythological myths – The Eclipses. In one of my painting I tried to catch The Eclipse with Christ. In artist's impression nothing could be more scared then that Holy event. Even scientifically that event can be associated with a meteorite shower.
I have maintained my own style, which resembles my Ideal VanGogh. Since my learning days I have been more comfortable in acrylic. While developing my theme, line and texture style gives an immeasurable depth to my dreams (painting), this gives the essential wings and makes them fly.
These paintings seem to have been created by Rajesh, as he has been time and again made to appreciate the science of the heavens, as an observer, while working at a planetarium. He has added his own touch and interpretations to the wealth of nature's not in any way observable by us through sophisticated telescopes. Some of what he has portrayed, is of portions of nature, not in any way observable by us, but only possible to visualize through our mental instruments. It is in these areas, where, our instruments can never reach, that a cosmic artist can give us extra instrumental perception.
(Dr. N. Rathnasree)
Director, Nehru Planetarium,
Teen Murti House, New Delhi.
