Neha Jain narrates stories through Gond art

Having learnt this tribal art form professionally two years ago from Man Singh Vyam, Neha displays her works at Iconart Gallery in Hyderabad

Janani is the first artwork that greets visitors. A painting of a tree (home to birds), a woman and the cow — all depicting the protector and Mother — in a traditional Gond art style weaves a story that has been passed down generations, informs Neha Jain, whose solo show Impressions of Gond at IconArt gallery displays her love for the traditional art-form.

Walking around the gallery feels like a Nature walk surrounded by birds and animals, their tales and their bonding. Interspersed with a human face, her works remain true to the visual narrative form of Gond. “Gond paintings convey many important messages through simple tribal stories; how we cannot survive without Nature and that we are interconnected,” says Neha.

The theme of why biodiversity matters features in an artwork of a crane that survives on fish in a pond. Hair drawn into a small neat bun behind the crane’s neck identifies it as female.

Gond art, Neha says, is assumed to be simple and childlike but a lot of thought goes into making each painting and could take hours to complete. “Intricate lines and a lot of detailing goes into these works.”

Neha experimented with Tanjore, Madhubani, Pata Chitra, Kalighat and Kerala mural painting before discovering her passion for Gond. The traditional art form took her back to the walks in the forest during her childhood at Gwalpara in Assam.

“I love the natural world that Gond artists depict through their works.” Living in Hyderabad for 23 years since her marriage, Neha has been practising Gond art for the past five years but learnt it professionally from Man Singh Vyam during the 2020 lockdown.

With acrylic paints and textures, the works have a contemporary feel. A tree with white leaves against a black background looks resplendent with birds in pink and purple to depict resting birds at night.