AOR Galleries Rita Putatunda

Introducing Rita Putatunda


GASP © Rita Putatunda	SOUL FOOD © Rita Putatunda

WAVE © Rita Putatunda	ORANGE-MARMALADE © Rita Putatunda

my bio? hmmm…so difficult. on seeing a few bios out here, at AOR, I went
like WOW! – man! I’m nowhere anywhere there. where all these guys have been.
but I must be somewhere. so where am I? I frantically search…

I hunt in the shadows of my footprints that I’ve left far behind. searching
for clues to find me. am I somewhere there, in my pasts? where was I born,
how did I grow up, where did I learn my abc’s, what degree did I get at
college, where did I learn to draw, (did I learn to draw??), where have I
shown my work?

is that kind of stuff relevant? can you really know me with my entrails
trailing me? will my college degree reveal that I managed to get it through
the skin of my teeth after burning the midnight oil on the nights before my
exams, because I doodled my days and nights away day dreaming when I
should’ve been studying?

that piece of paper, yellowing with time, which I’m forced to brandish as a
part of my flesh, to reassure the world that hey, look, I’m ok. I’m just
like you. I belong here. to the same world you belong to. but there’s
something wrong. that piece of paper is as irrelevant to me as the flowers
that the tree sheds. after all, all art is about escapism. an attempt at
evading just the kind of reality that college degrees represent.

and as for telling you about where I’ve displayed my pieces of escapism. how
can that make any difference to anyone? but aah aah, it does make a
difference of course. in the real world that you and I live in, the one I’m
trying to escape from in my canvas, life is about marketing and promoting
oneself. if I want to sell my art – what’s the point of creating, after all,
if not to sell – I must sell myself. I mean, Tyeb Mehta’s stock must have
shot trough the roof after his ‘Celebration’ sold for a mind-boggling $
317,500 at Christie’s in New York the other day! and that’s the whole point,
isn’t it?

I suppose there comes a time in everyone’s life – even an escapist’s – when
one must stop doodling and start seriously grinding under the yoke of
reality. and to seriously try and pass off pieces of escapism as serious,
real world stuff. that must be an art all by itself. which I’ll probably
learn as I go along. once I seriously learn how to be serious. for now, I’ll
just have some fun doodling.

and I’ll shed my pasts like a tree discards dead leaves and greens anew in
new seasons. every moment, a new season. and in this moment, now, my new
season, I’m getting a great kick rediscovering an old passion of mine. the
colours of my mind mixed on my palette. my hesitant brush dipped in the
pigment of my imagination. staring at my silent canvas. waiting for it to
speak to me.

so, instead of my (non-existent) credentials, I’ll just let my pictures
speak for me. (you’d have to be out of your mind to buy any, but, since I’m
allowed to quote a price – why, $ 317,500 would do fine thank you -
seriously) just as the art that I see, rather than the bios, that really
give me a glimpse into the minds of all the artists out here. and that is, I
feel, as it should be. to know a little more about me and my thoughts about
art, you could read my essay ‘The Artistic Temperament’ posted here in the
‘General Talk’ section.

I’m into digital art these days – fascinating what you can do with the
mouse. except that most graphics software seem designed with image editing
in mind – which I find a big bore. I’m looking for some software that is
designed for artists, (not for web-designers), meant for drawing and
painting – if you know of any please drop me a line at
ritawrites@hotmail.com. anyway, I’m still feeling my way about -- photoshop,
corelpaint, paintshop pro. still got a helluva lot to learn. what fun!
seriously!