Here's why you need to immerse in artist Madhvi Parekh exhibition in Mumbai

As a child I wasnrsquot allowed to swim My mother wouldnrsquot let me Some of those yearnings stay in your dreams and come out in your workrdquo artist Madhvi Parekh told a roomful of eager faces at the exhibition walkthrough of her show Remembered Tales organised at the DAG on its opening weekend in Mumbai The exhibition showed in New Delhi through July and August and came to Mumbai last month unveiling a body of newly completed works by the artist Madhvi Parekh Pic CourtesydagworldcomTwo of the paintings in the exhibition lsquoPond in my Villagersquo and lsquoBathing in the Pondrsquo present vibrant village scenes around water bodies with men and women birds and animals trees charpais huts and shrines harking back to those memories and desires associated with her idyllic childhood in Sanjaya Gujarat that the 83yearold artist alluded to during the eventrsquos lively QampA session lsquoTravelling Circus in my Villagersquo a large triptych occupying one end of the exhibit with its endlessly inventive depictions of behrupiyas nimble acrobats with devillike horns and a variety of hybrid fantastical creatures similarly draws inspiration from the sights and experiences of the artistrsquos rural childhood In spite of having spent a large part of her adult life in urban centres Parekh is as she insists ldquonot a painter of citiesrdquoTravelling Circus In My Village ndash triptych All are acrylic on canvasOther works in the show like lsquoGoddess of my Villagersquo lsquoGoddess Kalirsquo and lsquoGoddess Durgarsquo present the mother goddesses in canvases dense with creatures animated by Parekhrsquos vivid fabular and folkloric imagination Creatures encased within creatures Mahishasur blending into a snake and centipedes with human heads abound all marked with Parekhrsquos characteristic invertedtrident noses At the opening of the show Parekh stated that Kolkata which was one of the cities that shaped her career offered significant encouragement in her early years and that her goddess figures were inspired by the cityrsquos traditions ldquoKolkata was exciting because every day there is a celebration a festival a cultural charge It is a city animated by womenrdquo the artist told us laterTwo Scarecrows In My Rice FieldldquoI practise every dayrdquo Parekh mentioned during the walkthrough referring to a discipline around drawing reflected in a persistent longheld habit of maintaining sketchbooks Remembered Tales displays these sketchbooks dating from 1978 to 2018 offering a peek into the intimate processes of artistic thought and creation and is accompanied by a publication as well as a threevolume set documenting five decades of Parekhrsquos sketchbook practiceGoddess DurgaWe asked her if there was a period from her years of sustained creative work that stood out ldquoThe catalytic impulse comes from so many places over so many periods that it is difficult to say one is more important than the otherrdquo insisted Parekh ldquoIf I had not had the kind of childhood I enjoyed would it have served as a memory in my paintings If I had not taken the Paul Kleeinspired lessons would I have begun my artistic journey Had I not been saddened by what I saw at the Holocaust Museum would I have found catharsis in my own paintings In an almost organic way my art has become my life as much a part of my day as cooking or doing my chores meeting friends from the art world or painting every single day And every day that the river of art flows it becomes part of an interesting collective journeyrdquoGoddess Of My VillageWHAT Madhvi Parekh Remembered TalesWHERE DAG The Taj Mahal Palace ColabaWHEN Till October 31