Germination I

For Krishna Reddy, one of India’s greatest printmakers, nature remained a constant theme in his art and several of his works, such as this one, refer to ‘formations’ in nature. Here, the artist has depicted the germination of a seed—the opening of a seed into radiating patterns. One witnesses the life progression in the germination of a seed, captured skilfully by the artist in a whirlpool of lines and with the use of raw, earthy and natural colours. Reddy was drawn into comprehending as well as marvelling at the forms in nature, and he magnified microscopic details to the amazement of the viewers. ‘Nature is too profound, its mysteries too many. I get swayed by its constant change of colour, light, form and feel.’