ARTIST While visiting the Sutra Foundation centre in Kuala Lumpur, Kishore Sahoo once noticed that several red junglefowl that he used to see roaming around the neighbourhood near Titiwangsa Park had disappeared.

This observation became the subject of his acrylic painting entitled Parallel Lives. The work depicts six wild roosters standing amidst a clump of dense leaves, while lively birds rest on the large leaves above.

A kind of jungle looms menacingly in the background. From a distance, skyscrapers and concrete buildings seem to be about to invade this gentle natural landscape.

Such contrasts between elements of the wild and the vast sprawl of humans in cities were highlighted in Kishore’s exhibition, “Nature on the Edge of Cityscapes,” held recently at Sutra’s KamaRia Gallery in Petaling Jaya.

“It’s about how the world looks to me today. Global warming is in full swing and through my pictures I show the (effects on) nature.

“At the same time, I am showing the beauty of nature,” said Kishore from Orissa, India.

His other works feature other birds such as peacocks, swans and white doves, all living in guileless repose against the backdrop of towering man-made structures blocking the horizon.

In Wildlife on City Edge, Kishore places a ferocious tiger with an enigmatic expression at the centre of the canvas. The animal has an almost pensive expression as it looks outwards, while behind it a row of massive buildings shimmers garishly under the night sky.

Another painterly work that juxtaposes calm and disorder, it shows a man practicing yoga on a balcony in a densely populated city. Similarly, KL China Town is an impressionistic shot of a market street filled with a dense crowd in the heart of the city.

Through his art, Kishore, who has traveled to India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Nepal and Thailand, creates a discourse on the paradox of modern human settlements thriving alongside the timeless serenity of nature.

One cannot help but feel the continued dominance and even threat of large cities expanding recklessly and without any regard for non-human life and habitats in rural or wild areas.

Furthermore, the buildings he creates as part of his menacing backdrops are interesting as they are seemingly devoid of any life, their giant skeletons towering menacingly over unsuspecting souls in the fragile natural world with steely intent.