WHEN I first met Jega, as he was fondly referred to, I could not bring myself to be too familiar with him. Jega exuded an aura of seriousness yet simplicity in the way that he spoke very passionately about art and what it meant to him.
Looking at Jeganathan Ramachandram’s art pieces, one could not help but be fascinated by the passion and exuberance in every stroke, the force and splash of colour that was his calling card and how his paintings appeared to be layered. One had to look closely and try to decipher the symbolism he employed to subtly send messages across to his audience.
No – he was not going to make it simple for you. One had to spend time and appreciate the cosmic balance that he so cleverly portrayed, and neither was he going to pamper his audience.
So who was this talented elusive artist who kept away from mainstream art and carved a niche for himself – mysterious and successful – who captured the hearts of many? To his advantage, he was self-made and had a background working as a graphic artist, a talent he combined with his art to create videos of art as I called them.
Seema Nanoo, one of his proteges, who spent years under his tutelage, felt devastated when she heard of his passing.
“Jeganathan Ramachandram has always said, ‘when the student is ready the teacher appears’ and I believe that was how I was ordained to meet him. For till then, art and I was an oxymoron.
“Well ‘ready’ is subjective because I did not know art and hence was not seeking art… but seeking, nevertheless, for something unlabelled within me. I must be so blessed, as my first acquaintance with art was through Jega.
“I don't quite know how to put this. Jega did not teach art, actually. He awoke the artist in us. It may sound so presumptuous or grandiose, but I can't find a better way to put it,” said Seema.
As passionate as he was about all aspects of creativity, he was even more relentless in his teaching. He had once said: "Learning art with me is like EPF – if you put in 80% effort, I will put in 110%”.
If students wanted to paint a tree, “he would guide us to become the tree, imagine what it feels like, swaying ever so gently in the breeze. He taught us dance movement, sound and how it travels through our body. He taught us to become blank canvas so that we removed filters within ourselves and allowed creativity to flow through.
“For he often said, creativity does not belong to us, it flows through us… for what belongs to us is coloured by our perspectives and limitations. I cannot begin to distil all that he has imparted to us, I will have to write a book for that,” added Seema.
As a student, Seema felt lucky to know him as not just the artist but also the "person" behind the artist. She believes anyone who has ever had the pleasure of conversing with him, will walk away knowing that the man was beyond his art. Art is a consequence, a by-product, as amazing as it was.
“This painting comes to mind when I want to encapsulate how a painting was birthed under his tutelage. It started with a blank canvas but this time the lights were turned off and it was dark with only a faint glimmer of light seeping through the night. The colours were prepared for easy access and I dipped my glove encased fingers into the different colours of paint randomly and start spreading it all around the canvas.
“It was meditative, it was a total surrender to the creative energy. When I stopped and saw the result… an elusive story started to emerge from it. I could see shapes, a cave and my duty thereon was to give life to it as the story unravelled,” said Seema, as she detailed how he came across to her as the master artist who brought out her hidden art ability.
When I first brought my special daughter, Preeya Nanthini to him he was both fascinated and intrigued by her love of art. Jega took some time to study her and went along with her love of flowers, bright colours and vibrant, Indian music, all at the same time.
Jega decided to combine all three and the result was a noisy, Kollywood video of her flowers which resembled faces in different poses. Till today, Nanthini treasures the video and when she heard of his passing, I could see the pain in her eyes and she immediately went to her phone to search for the video. Jega in his Facebook post described the video which he created for Nanthini:
“This is Nanthini, a 27-year-old with a heart and mind of a child. She is my art student. Seeing her flowers that had faces today... I was tempted to do a video. She sat by me and we worked on this clip. This song is one of her favourites. I feel blessed working with an angel!”
I know that Jega will always be remembered not only for his art but for his kindness and his love of humanity. Many students benefitted from his depth of knowledge of looking into their souls and breathing life into their dreams and their art.
We bid farewell to an artist, whose art took different forms and appeared to encompass the mystery and symbolism of the universe. Malaysians have lost not only an artist but a man who brought individuality and magic to the canvas. Om Shanti Jega. – The Vibes, February 28, 2021
