Right to Speech; What Lies Beneath Painting

Art is something that naturally runs deep within Poojitha Ravi Menon, who originally hails from Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India. Completing her studies in the areas of Tourism and Hotel Management, and later a post- graduate diploma in Advertising & Communication, Poojitha came to Malaysia in 2002. But it is perhaps her exposure to antiques at a young age, coupled with growing up in an environment where art is something respected and valued, that became catalysts making art Poojitha’s chosen path in life. Or, as she puts it, allowing “art to choose her”. By and large, Poojitha is a self-taught artist who did not obtain much formal training in art, save for what she was exposed to while in primary and secondary school. She has, however, been painting since her early youth, and her artistic skills have been continuously developing over the years through diligent self-study, trial and error, and the occasional critique from artist friends she has made along the way. The culmination of the artist’s Glass Art period was her first solo exhibition in 2011, entitled “SHE, The Nude Collection of Nine”. Despite the success she enjoyed with this medium, Poojitha found painting on glass to be limiting. This was a period in Poojitha’s personal life where her pursuits for spiritual fulfillment became important, and with it the desire to express deep insights through her art. The physical limits posed by the size of the glass panes she could work with, at a time when she felt she had much to express, lead her to start painting on canvas. After some deliberation and experimentation, Poojitha discovered that the style appropriate for her to fully express herself at this stage was abstract art. Thus began a two-year journey, culminating in her second solo exhibition, “Prana”, in 2013. This was a visceral and visual discourse about the metaphysical life force that flows through all existence. Visually, “Prana” was a cohesive marriage of color and geometry, to express the many manifestations this essential life force In the last several months since then, however, Poojitha has found a new focus for her art – children. This has been fueled by her experiences raising her two children, now at school-going age, her interaction with other parents, and by what she reads in the news.