ART KENDRA
Presents a Solo Show by
AHAANA MAKKAR
Child Artist
‘Ahaana at 5’
Curated by Maurice Ryder
Curated by Maurice Ryder
at
AIFACS
AIFACS
1 Rafi Marg, New
Delhi
On view from 2nd to 7th April, 2013
.jpg) |
Ahaana Makkar at Studio, Art Kendra
|
ABOUT THE
CHILD ARTIST
The exhibition titled ‘Ahaana at
5’ showcases the paintings that Ahaana, a child artist, did at the tender age
of FIVE between April 2012 and March 2013.
Thus, at this remarkably young
age of 5 years, Ahaana became conversant with six mediums: graphite, charcoal,
pastels, classic watercolour, gouache and acrylics on supports of paper and
canvas.
The show is about how far a child
can go with a teacher’s careful nurturing of the skills required in Fine Art,
keeping in mind age, attention span and the subject matter from the child’s
point of view. Rounded off it emphasizes education through art. “If children
are to participate fully in their culture, they must master this symbolic
system,” says Maurice Ryder, Curator of the exhibition.
Ahaana’s parents describe their 5
year old daughter as cheerful and pleasant and one who loves to draw and paint all
the time.
Ahaana is very observant and
focused in her attitude towards Art. She is a quick learner and her attention
span is now surprisingly good for a child of such a tender age. She can sit for
hours on a painting, and is only satisfied when she has completed it to her
satisfaction. She is very confident of herself and painting always makes her
happy.
Ahaana’s love for Art started
showing when she was only a year old; she would only scribble then (the
scribbling period). Besides Art, Ahaana
loves to solve jigsaw puzzles among the other things that any five year old
would enjoy doing. She is very gregarious. From attempting formal scales on the
keyboard to being the youngest on the tennis court, Ahaana is a winner.
Ahaana is a student at Step by
Step School in Noida. She is in the kindergarten.
Ahaana was grounded into a
planned approach to drawing & painting at ART KENDRA, Noida. Here she was
made aware of fundamentals like ‘Fill the frame’, and, ‘Wait till the paint is
dry’ etc. Her mentors and teachers are satisfied with her results which have
culminated in a thrust to put up this exhibition of her works. In no way was
her individuality or originality sacrificed for formal dogmas. From the very
beginning Ahaana was nurtured in ‘Art’ to bring out the best of her talent. She
can sit through 1½hr sessions enjoying every moment of it, and producing works
of her own invention, always determined to explore line, colour and form her
own way.
ABOUT THIS UNIQUE ART SHOW
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| Ahaana's Action Painting in progress at Art Kendra |
This exhibition demonstrates how ‘Art’
can be used in developing a child’s personality, cure phobias, eliminate
shyness and other undesirable traits like tantrums, stubbornness, poor
attention span etc, and is directly connected to Art Therapy.
In fact, the fundamental tenets
of art therapy involve communication, control resolution of emotional conflicts
through art making (American Art Therapy Association 1996). As one therapist commented, ‘Like dreams they
(children’s drawings) are an expression of their unconscious mind, something
which is not normally accessible’. Ahaana’s paintings, for one, helped her
overcome shyness, putting her on the theater stage and making her healthily
gregarious. The exhibition ‘Ahaana at 5’ represents a rare blend of child
artistic talent and the psychological understanding of the pictorial world of
the child. A must visit for parents and teachers interested in children’s
future in the visual arts and education through art.
The nearly week long exhibition,
2nd to 7th April,
also includes talks on children and their art, art therapy and live
demonstration by Ahaana along with
videos of her ‘work in progress’.
Artist : Ahaana Makkar (Child Artist)
Title: Boats on a Lake
Title: Boats on a Lake
Medium: Mixed Media on Paper
Size: 15 x 21.5 inches
The exhibits speak for themselves
and one can look forward to showcasing her works at the prestigious AIFACS
gallery (All India Fine Arts & Crafts Society) as an example of a ‘Child and her Art’, and
that too a Solo.
© Copyright Photos &Text Maurice Ryder
