SUBHASH VYAM – GOND ARTIST of MADHYA PRADESH

video clip | View Paintings

Subhash Vyam started working before he was ten years old. Since his older brother had settled down elsewhere, he had to work in a shop selling betel leaves to support himself and his parents. Still, he somehow found the time to make figures out of clay. When his sister, Nankusia’s husband, Jangarh Singh, saw the figures, he was impressed by the boy’s artistry and encouraged him to continue. Subhash was thrilled when his first clay figures sold for Rs 200/-. After graduating from school, Suhash went to Bhopal in Madhyam. He continued making clay and wooden figures in his spare time. He likes using black and often uses ink on paper as his medium, as he believes that black is good for him. His belief got a further boost when one of his ink drawings was awarded the Rajya Hastha Shilpa Puraskar by the Government of Madhya Pradesh in 2002.

His favourite themes are of aquatic life, which he saw while growing up in the village of Sonpuri, near Patangarh. Inspired by his wife Durga Bai, who has a vast reservoir of folk tales, Subhash has also started painting characters and scenes from these stories. When Subhash Vyam holds his painting workshops, he has the additional advantage of being able to teach participants how to make clay and wooden figures as well.