Expression of Green by Murali Nagaphuza

The familiar language of painting has landscape as background for some context in the theme.Traditional Kerala paintings such as floor pictures done in color powder or mural paintings did not even warrant a situation to have a landscape at all in the works.Landscape is a fragmented nature articulated composition ally to enhance the meaning of the context,to conceptualize an episode or even to give an atmosphere of scenic beauty.Nature as such has only a secondary existence in all such works from Renascence period onward or in the miniature and Ravivarma. In India nature is more motif than just a background in the painting and in modern period it is almost like a referral point.

The Greenery of the land,a sign of fertility is generalized concept about nature but each place has its own green/flora specificity. Even when nature is depicted the flora represented in the paintings is more connected with the ideologically acclaimed landscape flowers like lotus and Water Lily,Trees like Mango Tree or some other aristocratic ones.

The locally specific species of flora and fauna almost envelopes the whole canvas sometimes even eclipsing the human presence.Only tribal are projected as equal to nature , but in all other contexts nature is embracing wholeheartedly the children of the village showing the ethno botany of the locality.Some time works become a leafy plant painting with all the non aristocratic grass and papaya like plants.The canvasses tries to give a balance of green with green,the monochrome green shows the ethno botanical nature of Kerala.The green splendor of nature depicted is not just a landscape.It is the esence of the earth,earthly atmosphere,children,butterflies,small huts with eco friendly existence,or it is the essence of NATURE BEING,AND AN EXPRESSION OF GREEN AESTHETICS.