A colourful spread of intricate and aesthetic renditions bring alive Kamal Ahmed’s flowing artscapes. Inspired by classical Indian scriptures, the work reflects the artist’s fascination with spiritual forms, texts, folklore and narratives. Revered icons and popular myths, come alive in a subtle assimilation of the artist’s imagination with the scripted episodes. The expanse in the current collection, comes in a miniature scale featuring significant sacred icons and mythical tales evoking the aura of a divine sanctuary.
Born in 1965 in a middle class conservative Muslim family, Kamal grew up amidst rural surroundings in Gadag, Karnataka. He studied in the local school where his artistics abilities attracted the attention of his friends and school teachers at an early stage. Though his parents did not approve of it, he joined art classes at college and took to learning painting seriously. It was a tough struggle. For seven years until passing his master’s degree in Fine Art from Karnataka University in Dharwad, “I worked in a bakery at night to fend for myself and learnt and practised drawing during the day time”. Later on, freelance assignments kept coming his way which helped him stay afloat. It is only after his selection and appointment as a regular art teacher in a state run government school over a decade ago, that he began to feel financially secure.
