Painter's Forest: Fading Light Painting

Magunta Dayakar – Artist and Author Magunta Dayakar, born Magunta Venkata Subba Reddy, is an Indian artist, writer, and filmmaker. He first gained recognition as a popular fiction writer in his native language, Telugu, and has authored 35 novels. He also worked as an editor and publisher, briefly running a feature magazine. Alongside his writing, he ventured into filmmaking—scripting, acting in, and directing two feature films. In addition to fiction, he has written 15 successful books on painting, many of which have received 4- and 5-star ratings on Amazon. My Dual Identity as an Artist When I paint, I don’t think of myself as an abstract artist. For me, my paintings are very realistic. They come from my experiences of forests, embankments, thickets, slopes, rocks, and the small details of rural life. I paint what I have seen, felt, and lived with in nature. But I understand that for many viewers, especially those raised in cities, my work looks completely abstract. They see colors, strokes, and textures without recognizing the real elements that inspired them. To them, my paintings belong to abstract art. This difference in perception is natural. A forest floor, with scattered rocks, broken twigs, moss, and shadows, doesn’t look “organized” like a picture in a book. It looks chaotic, and I try to capture that feeling. So when people without that experience look at my work, they think it is pure abstraction. In reality, both are correct. For me, it is realism. For them, it is abstraction. This is where my identity as an artist lives — between the two. My work may be seen as contemporary abstract painting, but at its core, it is deeply realistic because it comes from nature. I like this position. It gives my paintings two lives. One life is for me, where I see the real character of the forest. The other life is for the viewer, who may see mystery, abstraction, or simply beauty in colors and textures. That is how I may be recognized — as an abstract artist on the outside, but as a realist in my own truth. And I am happy with that balance. “An artist who paints forests as lived memory — appearing abstract to some, deeply realistic to others.” - Magunta Dayakar