Being articulate

Artist Mahaveer Swamy tells that global interest in art has been a great booster.
You are a stalwart of the Bikaner School of painting. When did you first take up the brush?
I started painting when I was just eight. I was born in a family of artists and grew up watching my grandfather, Mool Das Swami, and father, Moda Ram Swami, at work, doing paintings and murals for the Bikaner fort.As a child, I would scribble with chalk on the courtyard and on the slate, besides making pencil sketches. My flair for painting is natural. Add to that the artistic atmosphere that I was born into. A combination of all these factors inspired me to take up the brush.
Tell us a little about the kind of work you do.
My work primarily revolves around Sufi themes. Right from childhood, Muslim sufis and Hindu pundits would visit the 250-300 year old studio in the garden of my house and I developed this immense yearning to capture their faces on canvas.
At the moment, however, I am also working on contemporary themes. Just recently, I did a painting of traditional toys gifted to me by my grandmother.
At the moment, our country boasts of a large number of traditional painters. What sets you apart?
Since I draw inspiration from very little things and my works are very heavily influenced by Mughal art, I try and capture the emotions of the figures just as they are.
Perhaps, it is those profound expressions that make my works stand out. Besides, I use natural colours that are ground from stones and minerals.
Synthetic colours don’t find a place in my works. Another uniqueness about my work would be that I exclusively use fine antique papers, many of those which have been collected for generations.
You have exhibited your works in cities all across the world. How has the response been?
My works have received fabulous response the world over. I have exhibited in the most unusual of places like Egypt and Jerusalem, apart from art sensitive cities like France.
But the amount of interest about Indian painters and their works of art is a huge booster. Not only Indians out there, but even the natives flock exhibitions and are extremely curious about the latest happenings new artists and new works.
You have been flooded with awards on a constant basis. Tell us about some of your works that fetched you awards.
I was awarded with the National Award by the President of India in the year 1987 for a buffalo painting that I had done. It had my unique style.
In the year 1992, I was given the Sanskriti Award by the Vice President of India for carrying forward the Bikaner Gharana of art. Recently, the Haryana Government conferred on me the titles of Kalasmri and Kalaman.