Well, meet Tarika Ram, the 18-year-old daughter of Srivats Ram, Managing Director of Chennai-headquartered Wheels India Ltd. Tarika Ram is showcasing her art works on ‘Happiness’ at a week-long exhibition at Kalpa Druma Art Gallery in Chennai. After three solo exhibitions over the last few years based on the couplets of famous Tamil poet Thiruvalluvar from the Thirukkural, she has, for the first time, moved into a new theme and a fresh medium to convey her messages on Happiness.
She has clear views on what happiness means to her. “Happiness is a sense of joy,
contentment and well -being. That means we need to be happy and content with what we have. But we also need to have a purpose in life that is meaningful,” she puts succinctly.
“Happiness is a universal emotion and everyone wants to be happy. Yet, many people struggle with it. As I am into abstract art, I thought happiness lends itself well to emotional expression,” articulates Tarika. She has also made the current exhibition interactive with two interactive installations. “The viewers can write or draw what they are grateful for & tie it to the gratitude tree. And then, they can plait braids to signify relationships in their lives.”
Her father Srivats Ram says that this is a big leap of faith for Tarika. For, she has moved away from her comfort zone of paintings to tapestry and textile in this exhibition. She has gained a lot of confidence from her previous three exhibitions that has led her to explore different mediums of presenting her art works.
Her mentor and art teacher of the last eight years, Diana Shatish, believe that this is a big transformational phase in Tarika’s life .”There has been positive feedback from the visitors at her previous three solo exhibitions. I remember Murugappan (of Murugappa Group) telling me that Tarika is one of his favourite artists. She has lived up to her promise and is now moving to the adult world in professional art works. The next phase will be a very competitive one for her but as can be seen from this Art of Happiness exhibition, she is all geared up to compete in the professional world as an artist. Some of the top art directors havebeen impressed with the way she has presented the different emotions of Happiness,” says Diana Shatish.
“Each of the 30 artworks tell a story of positivity, happiness and relationships. The
way she has used the gown when she was just 11 months old along with some of the old clothes of her family members to express her views on happiness shows that her thought process is quite unique and she is on the right path,” according to Diana Shatish.
The Joint Managing Director of KCP Kavitha Dutt was the Chief Guest at the launch event. “Through Tarika’s art works, we are not only invited to look for happiness but also to reflect on its meaning to see it, feel it and even better understand it. Tarika. at just 18, has demonstrated a maturity and depth of thoughtthat is truly remarkable. Her work is a wonderful confluence of art, psychology, philosophy
and personal reflection,” says Kavitha Dutt .
As Tarika moves out of her teens into the Adult World, she is all excited at the prospect of taking ‘Art’ as a professional career.
