RAJAN SINGH UIKEY – GOND ARTIST of MADHYA PRADESH

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Rajan Singh Uikey learned painting from Ramesh Tekam, who is also from the village of Patangarh. At present, Rajan is studying for a BA in Bhopal and is determined to work in an office when he gets his degree. But he would like to continue with his painting. Rajan Singh Uikey’s preferred colour scheme is black and white. His ink on paper drawings are replete with layers of hidden meaning.

He has always been drawn to snakes, and feels that they are unjustly feared and cruelly treated by people in the cities. Rajan feels that snakes are harmless and it is we who have made them our enemies. In the villages, snakes and humans coexist. Rajan Singh’s ink drawings tell stories about snakes, especially about the great God Shankaradev, who always carries a snake on his shoulder.

Patangarh remains deep in Rajan Singh’s heart, and through his paintings he stays connected with his village. When he was younger, like all the other children, he used to take the cattle out to graze, and he would dream of completing his higher studies and of working in an office some day. Today Rajan Singh Uikey is able to meet the expenses of city life through the sale of his paintings and feels he owes a lot to his art.