Father & Son: Bonded through Art

Inspired by his father’s work budding artist Mohan Naik is all set for his debut solo art show at Carpe Diem Art Gallery, Majorda.

“My father is very inspired by the village and I am inspired by my father, as I grew up looking at his paintings”, says Mo hit Naik as he prepares to open a major solo show of his works in Goa.

And no wonder for Mohit’s father is the celebrated Goan artist Mohan Naik, a firmly entrenched figure in Goa’s artistic landscape. The veteran artist’s style is instantly recognizable and much loved by his collectors. Scenes of village life, rural women going about their daily routines, goatherds shepherding their goats — these motifs are the mainstay of the senior artist’s visual repertoire.

And while Mohit is not breaking new ground with his show, he is still embarking on a visual journey that is his own — using themes and techniques, details and depictions differently from his father.

Being an only child and growing up in an isolated village in South Goa, the young Mohit naturally gravitated towards art, being surrounded by his father’s paintings and art materiaLs. Life was slow in the village and learning and exploring both village Life and painting became absorbing activities.

Mohit recounts, “I had started painting from a very young age, as the art material was easily available for me. We used to go for a walk in our village, around the mountains to develop inspirations, experience those beautiful things and use it in the paintings. My father always used to guide me as how I could develop and improve my paintings. I remember I had painted my first canvas when I was in 5th std. I continued painting on papers, with different mediums especially with soft pastels. I won many school level competitions, and had my first group exhibition when I was in 8th std at Attic art gallery Panjim in 2008. I again got an opportunity to exhibit my paintings at the Art fest Chinchinim in 2011”.

Mohit took a detour to finish his studies in commerce and business. After gaining his BBA and MBA degrees and working a job for a few years he decided his heart wasn’t in it and organically came back to his first love- art.

As he was getting back to painting all over again and developing his own style, the pandemic hit and lockdown happened. A Large body of works in Ghodkem were developed during lockdown as Mohit took the time to study his surroundings and create and strengthen his own technique and artistic voice, learning about and looking at art more deeply.

Like for his father, the village plays an important role as background, core subject and central thematic inspiration.

“I took advantage of the time during lockdown to work with full dedication. Since we could not move out and meet others, I used to go and sit on top of the mountains behind our house with a sketch book, doing studies of the trees and sketching the things I see. My father motivated me, guided me and taught me different techniques with different mediums which helped me a lot to improve my artworks. I started working with watercolours and practiced different techniques with other mediums like oil and acrylic colours. I mostly paint with oil and watercolours as both are my favourite mediums. The effects with these mediums totally satisfy me.

“My father always says that nothing is a waste in art, it is how one takes it and learns from it I feel that there are some similarities in my paintings which I have subconsciously taken from my father’s work. The subject in my paintings is inspired by my father’s paintings and other things which I have seen around me in our beautiful village Ghodkem. I: can see that our village is slowly changing, and those changes are coming in my paintings too. Currently, I am consistently working on developing my own techniques and simultaneously, practicing the techniques which are taught to me by my father.”

And while there is a strong father-son bond forged through art, the difference is in the details. From afar their art looks very similar, the warm palette, the superficial appearance but go closer and one can see identifiable differences with Mohit detailing his figures, his animals in a distinctive way, even making use of the negative spaces in his pictures in an unusual manner. There are interesting new figures that spark new stories including the gonsabail, the colourful decorated ox, the ride of lord Mahadev and the village breadman, the poder that make an appearance in Mohit’s art.

Says Mohan Naik of his son’s journey, “My influence is bound to be there, he has grown up seeing it but I am sure he will change as he goes on and find his own way.”

‘Ghodkem: My Journey Begins Here’ opens at Carpe Diem Art Gallery, Majorda on March 12, 2022 at 7 pm. The show runs until April 30, 2022.