Dateline Dehradun: Block coming Sunday i.e. 25th of June. Yellow Marigold is playing host to an exhibition-cum-sale by a young talented artist from Dehradun, Dev.
Turning 18 this month, Dev might struggle with his specific needs but he challenges you with his visual poetry. His art allows his audience to take a glimpse into his world of colourful imagination. From breathtaking landscapes, flourishes of flowers, raindrops, gods and goddesses, each and every painting talks to you about Dev’s love for life. While a sponge, knife, tissues or pencil ends create texture in his paintings, he fills in colours under the watchful eyes of his art teacher who guides him patiently. And when the young lad is not busy with colours he is either enjoying music, astonishing you with his computer skills or in water. But his first and true calling remains colours!
When Dev was born the paediatrician expressed certain doubts but his parents thought otherwise and provided young Dev the most loving home environment they possibly could. Born with Trisomy 21 which means, each cell in the body has three copies of the chromosome 21 instead of the 2, the most common cause of birth defects worldwide. Children born with this chromosomal deficiency grow and learn slowly, with short attention spans. Not getting bogged down by naysayers they consciously surrounded themselves with medical and support system that believed in life’s immense possibilities.
Parul Kala, Dev’s dotting mother tells us, “At the age of 8, Dev started attending painting classes. The result was a riot of colours. Slowly he was able to use his fingers to express himself. His masterpieces were created from water soluble paints and oil.” She further adds, “He was not non-verbal any more. Dev paintings speak oodles about his determination to express himself. When he started he was unable to hold the paintbrush for long, and so started to use his fingers. And the results are now for all to see.”
Ella Garg, the Owner and Curator of the exhibition adds, “Yellow Marigold and Dev welcome you into our world. A world that is a celebration of colourful life canvass. This event is close to my heart as it is all about building community of people from all walks of life. It’s about breaking biases!“
Dev’s paintings maybe viewed on his Facebook page : www.facebook.com/paintingsbydev
