Framing Stillness and Light

SHIBU NATESAN'S WATERCOLOURS-PAINTED OVER THE PAST DECADE AND SHOWING CURRENTLY AT ART ALIVE-ARE MASTERFUL DEPICTIONS OF THE INTERPLAY BETWEEN LIGHT AND SHADOW, BETWEEN DOCUMENTATION AND STORYTELLING

- Aditya Mani Jha

In Shibu Natesan’s watercolour work ‘A Day in the Life of a Construction Worker’, we see the subject sitting quietly by himself at a construction site, even as the crisscrossing bamboo all around acts as a natural ‘frame’.

The framework has contained the worker entirely—he cannot escape these punishing terms his life is defined by, and yet at the same time, there is an undeniable peace and stillness in this moment. It’s a simple yet powerful demonstration of the softness and grace associated with watercolours. The painting is part of the 59-year-old artist’s ongoing solo exhibition Mirror Man, Mirror Me at Delhi’s Art Alive Gallery—on till November 20—which brings together an array of watercolour paintings he has created from 2014-2025, alongside a small number of oil paintings as well. From the villages of Kerala to the markets of Uzbekistan to the hilly vistas of Uttarakhand, Natesan’s watercolours are masterful depictions of the interplay between light and shadow, between documentation and storytelling.