Ravi Mandlik

An abstract artist, Ravi Mandlik hails from Amravati district of Maharashtra. Though he has now very much become a part of Mumbai's hectic life, he seeks inspiration from the forests in his native place. He also tries to capture the texture of the forests of Karnataka. The talented artist studied at the Sir J.J. School of art and worked there as a lecturer for a few years before he decided to pursue his painting full time. He has been exhibiting for more than 10 years. Mandlik won the international award of the Seychelles Visual Art Biennale from the Seychelles Government in 1992.
In 1995 he was invited to represent India in the international art exhibition organized by the Bendre-Husain Fellowship of the Bombay Art Society. His earlier series of acrylic paintings titled 'Alive' also dealt with the movements in Nature in general but not of any specific object.
In his exhibition at the Jehangir Art Gallery in December, Ravi Mandlik tried to capture the texture of the forests of Karnataka. He makes it a point to roam the forests in his native place. When he traveled to the forests of Karnataka, he experienced oneness with nature. The rocks, he noticed, had textured surfaces after the wind had left such kind of marks on them. They were like bits of crumpled paper, something that he tried to replicate in his work.
According to the artist, his work is based on energy. The five formless elements in nature inspire him to capture the essence i.e. energy. He mostly uses acrylic, which he says, has a transparent quality, and gives dimension to a flat surface. The energy, even though formless, moves, and I try to capture that movement, he says.
The color combinations are usually pleasing, without being too bright. Nor do they clash with each other. Some paintings appear like smoldering embers, some are smoky while some bring to mind the rolling clouds lit behind from a setting sun. Mandlik also achieves interesting variations of textures by using the brush, roller etc., in combination. His paintings promote unusual subtleties and keep a balance between strength, texture, and depth of form.