Rekha Rodwittiya’s paintings have always asserted strong feminist political intentions. “I was brought up in a family with fiercely independent women. I realised that the privileges I had as a girl child growing up in such a household and the advantages I had taken for granted were not a luxury for every other girl,” says the artist about the inspiration behind her works. Rodwittiya, whose works have been included in various national and international group exhibitions, feels that every thinking citizen should exercise political will.

Her latest body of work Rekha@Fifty was conceived when her family wanted to do something special for her birthday. The exhibition commemorates her works from the last few decades. She has been consistently working with the problem of representing the female form in a way that does not allow voyeuristic participation from the onlooker. “At 50 I’m more emancipated, full of energy and living life in my own terms. My paintings represent the female form as life-giving and nurturing and gives her a space that gives her freedom and talks about her desires. It’s a space where she chooses to play different avatars in life,” she enthuses.

Post the frenzy of the show, the artist looks forward to bringing in the new year with her loved ones, and hopes to catch up on her reading while travelling extensively in the country. Ask her to choose one of her favourite works and she quips, “The creation of my son.”

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