An artist pours his obsession with cats onto the canvas

Chennai-based artist Ganpathy Subramaniam has always been fascinated by cats. Although he never had one as a pet, their presence in and around the places he lived, made him familiar with their ways. But, little did he know that one day when they'd become his greatest muse.

"I have been attracted to a few subjects for my works - shore temple, dancers and non objective abstracts - and I was in search of a subject that offered enough intrigue. That's when the image of this little cat sprung up to my mind," says Subramaniam, the former vice president of a well-known IT firm.

He soon got down to sketching it, and with every drawing, the versatility of his subject kept growing on him. Today, Subramanian has created an album on Facebook titled Cats, where he uploads all his feline-inspired drawings. Although he has been receiving requests from people keen on buying the artworks, he is saving them for an exhibition he plans to hold soon. In an interview, he tells us why cats make for a wonderful subject.

When did your fascination with cats begin?
Most recently there was a cat that laid a bunch of kitten under our stairs. While all of them went away with their mother, one stayed back. I fed it and took care of it, and it hung out at my place for a long while. The kitten was always active, either running around, playing with a ball or at times just observing me work on the computer.
Suddenly, one day, it brought a bird home and left it inside the house. Next day, it was a mouse. I soon found out about this behaviour and that the cat thought I was a cat, too, and was bringing food home now that it had grown up! This further increased my fascination towards them. It has grown up well and has found its friends, and we meet rarely.

What inspired you to sketch them?
I think cats offer endless possibilities to observe. The flexible body of the cat makes for amazing visual design which I am just beginning to know.

What's that one quality that you find most intriguing about cats?
I think they are a great example of just 'being' in the moment. The absolute coolness and masterly way in which they go about without an awareness of time, provides many a moment of Zen for us to observe and follow. Of course, they have other qualities as well. They are shrewd, quick to move and can be the most fierce fighters.

How often do you sketch?
Being a full-time painter I sketch and paint daily. When it comes to cats, if I have the energy I sketch several in a day.

Why watercolours?
Watercolour is a delicate medium that enables spontaneity and necessitates the artist to be fully present in the moment. I use handmade Chinese paper called Xuan, which is again a delicate paper. I also use Sumi ink which is a versatile ink that produces unlimited number of shades of black and spread in interesting ways on the Xuan paper. All these qualities make the act of painting a very meditative one.

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