Bengaluru Boy featured in Oxford Encyclopedia

He believes art is for everyone, and that it’s about making the world a more colourful place to live in.

Bengaluru:  A 23-year-old city-based copywriter is the country’s youngest artist whose work has been featured in the 2015 edition of the Oxford Encyclopedia of the Bible and the Arts in South Asia.

According to the artist Andrew Paul, his work The Mighty Saviour is based on a dream or vision he had when he came back to the city after a five-day Catholic retreat in Kerala.

“I saw blood all over Jesus’ face, and a blue cross. I asked a priest for an interpretation. He said it’s a message. He says no matter how many sins people commit, God will always love them. So unconditional is the love of God.”

It took him six hours for the basic work and eight hours to complete it.

Seeing his work on Facebook, Clara Joseph, a professor from a Canada university working on a thesis for Oxford, contacted him in mid-2014. “A year later, they called and confirmed that the work would be published in the Oxford Encyclopedia,” he adds.

His work is inspired by the people he meets. He has travelled a lot as his father works in the Air Force.

He presented his first work at Sunday Soul Sante, a popular city event featuring various works of art and craft.

He says, “I felt dejected by the responses I got. The same week, someone from Virginia saw and appreciated my work. I went to several galleries to exhibit my work but they rejected them, saying I was too young to paint; that an artist should be more mature, someone with more life experiences.”

For Andrew, art is a way to rediscover himself. He started painting in 2013. He would sketch after he got home from college.

“I wasn’t happy with the environment. I was searching for life. I had random thoughts that I sketched on canvas. I improved the painting. Thus it continued.”

One of his works Imaan, meaning honesty in Urdu, talks about the soul. The painting has 49 layers of colours. His latest abstract is Fading into the Past. He has done art on school walls with his friends for Sisters of Charity, Lingrajpuram.

He believes art is for everyone, and that it’s about making the world a more colourful place to live in.

“I believe everything I have achieved, especially in the world of art, is because of God’s grace, and my family’s love and support,” he concludes.

Source: New Indian Express