The world in black and white -Aishwarya upadhye,THE HINDU

It was all about shadow and light at the Visakha Museum last weekend as 16-year-old Shriya Baru displayed over 32 of her black and white paintings and called her exhibition, “My world in Black and White”. “I have been in awe of black and white paintings for quite some time now. Most of these are made from the normal black gel pens,” says Shriya.

There is a never a dearth of subject matter for her, says Shriya who calls her paintings a way of keeping her diary. “Painting is my medium of expressing my deepest emotions. Anything and everything from my surrounding can be a subject for my paintings, “ she says.

A student of Timpany School, Shriya has always loved art. A trained Carnatic singer and a sportsperson, she says painting has been her first love and the collection at the exhibition is a labour of that love for the last two years.

She has made copies of iconic works such as the Mona Lisa and the Girl With a Pearl earring. Describing the exhibition, she points out, “There are few paintings in which I have played with shadow and light. There are some line drawings, and some doodles in black on white paper.”

“My favourite ones are the three paintings that came from my anger and the #Metoo movement. The entangled bodies of men and women in the paintings show how these two genders are interdependent. Through disfigured faces of men and the sad faces of women, I have tried to tell my story,” says Shirya who wants to make art her career.