Varnam - An exhibition by Kaledio Arts club

If I am asked to describe “Varnam 2013” in a single statement, I would choose to say that it was an astonishing play of colors! It was an art exhibition conducted by Kaleido, an arts club led by the Singapore Malayalee Association Youth wing. Kaleido was set-up with a goal to nurture the artistic talents within our community – may it be photography, paintings, videography or 3d modelling. With the energetic forerunners and organizers, Kaleido has sprung into action in the very early days of formation itself.

Varnam 2013 (henceforth referred to as Varnam), was the first attempt by the Malayali community here in Singapore to organize an exhibition of this nature. As the plans were being hatched for Varnam, entries started pouring in from our various artists. Judging by the quality and intensity of the works, it was hard to believe that most of our artists were amateurs. Eventually we decided that the theme for Varnam 2013 as “diversity”. We ended up short listing around 85 artworks from 11 artists. The collection displayed at the SMA building on 26-27th Jan 2013, were the most comprehensive and varied collection I have ever seen in such a proximity.

Our artists had boldly ventured into most of the creative styles that could be represented in paper and canvas - acrylics, water colors, pastels, oil paintings, charcoal art and pencil sketches. You name it, we had it on display! The result was an astounding and vibrant collection of landscapes, portraits, mural influences, still life and abstracts.

A sample of 10 pictures from Varnam!

Our creativity wasn’t limited to two dimensions. The 3D figurines and animations on display ensured that we held the interest of our young visitors.

         

           The famous "Jarawa" - Clay model 

Shazabi- Scaled model of Japanese Anime

            And this was my favorite moment from the whole exhibition :-)

If it was in my capacity, I would start a Mexican wave each for Nikhil, Lijesh and others who dedicated a lot of time, energy and thought process to make Varnam a huge success! Well, I believe that a Mexican wave is the highest honor a person can get from an enthusiastic crowd :-)

My role was to be a volunteer at Varnam. What I did the whole weekend was hanging out with my friends and family who came to the venue, make new friends and majorly, have loads of fun! I thoroughly enjoyed the weekend and am looking forward to the next event by Kaleido.

My experiment with the wax!

When our parents were here, Dad found this beautiful book on candle making. He was browsing the library for a good candle making book, as Mom is very interested in this. On a weekend, we went "arts shopping" and made beautiful gel candles. I was so thrilled about it that later they sent me a big block of wax, to work on. Then on, making a square candle for our room has been in my to-do list. 

As part of making the weekend eventful, I attempted it yesterday. 

Since I don't trust myself to continue candle making, my thrifty mind does not want me to invest on 'must have' items like double boiler, wick holder or dedicated molds for candle making. 

I was saving the empty bottle of olive oil for quite a while to use as my square mold. I used a long tooth pick as wicker. Double boiler was an old sauce pan strategically held in place to get enough heat from boiling water in another bigger sauce pan! (Everyone says, never heat the wax directly on stove top)

If I continue to practice and perfect this, I will surely buy the gadgets soon. 

The only causalities were my last minute panic and screams to get assistance to keep my dummy wicker straight in the center. Of course, instantly Manu engineered a technique to solve the on-site technical glitches! (I think I made the right choice by marrying him)

It was fun making this beautiful little turquoise candle :)