S
ivananda Nyayapathi was born and
raised in India, where from child-
hood the Indian philosophy is part of
everyday learnings. It begins as stories
during youth and later turns to deep philo-
sophical concepts. He elaborates, “Indian
philosophy says that God is omnipresent,
omnipotent and omniscient. Accordingly,
Indians see God everywhere—in trees,
animals, earth, water, fire and everything.
Indians revere and worship God in all these
forms. Thus, in general, Indians see the
world in a special way—as a manifestation
of God. Everything Indians do is a form of
worship. For me, art is deep meditation.”
Through August 31, his artwork will
be on view in the show East & West – An
Artist’s View at Arts Clayton in Jonesboro,Georgia. “The paintings in this exhibition
represent what I observed in India and
what I observed in America in terms of
landscapes, people (portraits) and still life
setups,” he says.
His portrait I Am Mom, depicts his
friends’ 13-year-old daughter. “The parents
brought the child for a photo session.
However, she was not in a mood to pose.
She was too shy and self-conscious. She
took her own time to get comfortable with
the idea. Finally, when she did pose, she
went into this pose naturally,” he says.
“The pose is very dignified and it occurred
to me that the kid might have seen her
mother in that pose many times and natu-
rally went into that pose imitating her
unconsciously. Children learn from their
parents by observing. They learn manners,
mannerisms, attitudes, etc., without direct
teaching. That is the idea I wanted convey
in this painting. I came up with the compo-
sition of the concept and I requested the
child’s mom to come and pose for me in
the same pose.”
There also will be several still lifes in the
exhibition, including Fruits in a Bowl, which
was inspired by a trip to India he took a
couple of years ago. The artist was walking
by a sidewalk vendor who was selling fruits.
“Unlike the other vendors, she picked up
the fruits along with the leaves. She had
the right idea—the freshness of the green
leaves indicate how fresh the fruits were,”
Nyayapathi explains. “I wanted to capture
that, so I bought the fruits and did this
setup in natural light.”
“The board of Arts Clayton is very proud
and honored to feature Dr. Sivananda
Nyayapathi in a special cultural exhibit,
East & West – An Artist’s View,” says Arts
Clayton Executive Director Linda Crissey.
“Dr. Nyayapathi’s art tells an important
story about the world as viewed by someone
from Indian Diaspora—an artist who paints
from two different cultural views to inter-
pret India and America through realistic
landscapes and portraits.”Arts Clayton 136 S. Main Street • Jonesboro, GA
30236 • (770) 473-5430 • http://www.artsclayton.orgS I VANAN DA N YAYAPAT H I
East and West
UPCOMING SHOW PREVIEW / AR T S C L AY TO N
Through 8/31 Jonesboro, GA1