‘Texture art is free form of expression sans creative boundaries’

CHENNAI: Apart from being a decor piece to add to the aesthetics of a place, artworks are an expression of the artists. Different forms of art help one to express himself or herself. One such type is the texture art.

“Texture art, also known as the impasto painting, gives a three-dimensional perspective to an art piece. And it doesn't have any rules or set definitions to it,” says city-based artist Ashwina Sampathkumar. Though interested in art since her childhood, she pursued chemical engineering.

Ashwina re-found her passion seven years ago and obtained a diploma certificate in visual arts. Abstract being her favourite genre, she started experimenting with a lot of medium. That is how she discovered texture art through social media two years ago.

“People across the globe were posting about texture painting. Initially, I was clueless about the tools used to get perfect lines and texture. However, with practice, I found the right formula for mixtures and the correct technique for flawless textures. It involves a few mathematic calculations,” she states.

Ashwina feels that texture art is gaining momentum because of its nature of not being bound to any limitations. “People need not be an artist to express their inner thoughts through texture art. Always there is something more to explore and it is beginner-friendly,” adds the 32-year-old.

An artist who loves abstract art for its limitless beauty, Ashwina has excelled in floral and ocean texture artworks. And she aims to delve deep into landscape and forest themes as well. Apart from expressing herself, this form of art has helped her in coping up with depression. “I was undergoing a mental breakdown and depression post-partum. This art helped me to distract myself, overcome and heal from it. I can ver well say texture art gave back my freedom and mental peace,” she reflects.

Talking about the prevalence of the art in Chennai, the artist shares, “It has been a couple of years now. Earlier, it was called impasto knife painting. But now, we can even use our hands in texture art. Chennai is catching up well with the trend and I have hosted more than 20 workshops in the city. Youngsters prefer this because it is a free form of expression like fluid and resin arts.”

Another type of texture painting is Russian sculpture art which involves extreme practice with a knife to get the perfect stroke. The commonly used tools for the art are palette knives, texture paste (wall primer and putty), and a few ratios of acrylic paints. Consistency is the key to get exemplary textures.

Ashwina is gearing up for her next workshop in the city that revolves around moonscapes. “I was inspired by a wall design of the moon and wanted to try it on a canvas. In this workshop, participants will be taught how to make a texture paste from scratch, preparing the canvas for painting, converting to moonscape, fixing the lights, and how to paint over it for the final finishing,” she explains.

Try your hands in the texture art workshop that is taking place on July 13 at Backyard, Adyar, from 3 pm to 6 pm.