A painting says a thousand words. It is a very old saying but so true. Painting is one of the oldest forms of art, maybe even before poems or novels or singing because all of these require language. Visuals do not require language- and that is what makes a painting so captivating. It can have different meanings for different people. Different interpretations, different inferences and varying appreciation based on it. And art in the form of painting is omnipresent- it is all around us- especially today when artists have taken to painting walls with their minds and filling the canvas with their thoughts. And not just canvasses, a whole lot of things.
In a recent art exhibition we went, we overheard a couple discussing a painting. It was a beautiful painting of a boy holding a torch in one hand with a jungle behind him- as if illuminating the world with the light. The couple appreciated the painting, almost called someone to say that they wanted to buy it, looked at the price, and walked onwards to the next painting. That painting said a thousand words but even on hearing them, they decided to not listen. Our friend Garima Arya also understood this problem and decided to solve it.
Always been a gifted painter, Garima started out by painting on canvas and displaying her art to the world. But it did not take her too long to realise that buying paintings was considered to be a “rich man’s indulgence” and the common people would shy away from it. True, a lot of time and effort went into it and the painting would always be worth it, but how could you beat the stereotyping? Art in the form of painting, especially a good painting, was expensive and Garima wanted to reach the common man with her art. She wanted them to see what she made. For this, she created Poshampa, her venture where she paints shoes and showcases them to the world. She paints on ordinary canvas shoes and ballerinas, enhancing their look manifold and creating an art form out of these ordinary shoes.
If you see the designs she makes, there is a lot of colour, vibrance and life in the painting. It is as if the shoe is actually talking to you and dancing with you! The thought behind this is to bring us back to our child-like inner self- to make us sing and dance like children again, even if it is in our mind. Which is also the reason she named her endeavour as Poshampa, a childhood game which will bring back memories from childhood, filled with colour, exuberance, dreams and life. Garima buys plain canvas shoes or ballerinas and uses acrylic and fabric paint to paint on them. Once ready, her shoes are showcased on her Instagram handle www.instagram.com/poshampa/ for people to buy. Her vision of reaching the common people with her painting and bringing true art to them is well on it’s way and she is clearly making a difference by not letting paintings be a “rich man’s indulgence” anymore. For her, the next in line are hand painted wallets and bags.
I hope that couple sees her painted shoes- maybe the discussion will not end at the price.
