Sivam Selvaratnam's kaleidoscopic Malay canvas

The Hindu

22-05-2025

A picture of zen. This is how most remember the late Malaysian artist Sivam Selvaratnam, a pioneering female voice in the still-growing melting pot that is post-Independence Malayan art. The 'zen' was not just limited to her personality — her canvases spoke of a quiet confidence. Deeply meditative at times, and unpredictable at others, the artist's body of work spanned genres and mediums, resulting in an oeuvre that resonated with many.
Over 200 works from Sivam's six-decades-long career, curated by Sivarajah Natarajan and Cyril Periera of Sutra Foundation (dedicated to promoting and preserving traditional and contemporary performing arts), have recently been consolidated into a book. Sivam Selvaratnam: A Life in Art charts the artist and teacher's life, more than 10 years since her passing.
'When I was studying at the Malaysian Institute of Art, I was introduced to art history. We don't have a history like India, but there was a group founded by Sir Peter Harris, an Englishman [in 1952],' says Sivarajah, over a phone call from Kuala Lumpur. 'This was the first art group that was formed, and they would gather every Wednesday and paint.' The Wednesday Art Group attempted to break away from Eurocentric traditions and platformed artists with distinctive, modern styles. Sivam was one of its key members. 'When my lecturer mentioned the name, I was fascinated at how Indian-sounding it was,' says Sivarajah, recalling his first brush with the artist.
Into a world of colour
Born in Kajang, Malaysia, to parents of Sri Lankan Tamil origins, Sivam grew up surrounded by rubber plantations, tropical sunshine and abundant monsoons. And so, nestled deep in her canvases, be it realist or abstract, were the greens and browns that were hard to miss. But before entering the world of colours, she pursued a degree in teaching in Malaysia, and continued her studies in the Manchester College of Art and Design (now Manchester Metropolitan University) and with a Masters in Art and Design at the University of London.
Sivam's early western influences were that of Russian painter Wassily Kandinsky and Swiss-German artist Paul Klee. And from the Indian Modernists, the Bengal School of Art and artist Raja Ravi Varma. In 2012, Sivarajah led a curation of all of the artist's work, marking Sivam's first solo show ever. Titled Rapt in Maya, it was displayed at the Universiti Malaya Art Gallery in Kuala Lumpur. During the course of the curation, over lemon cream biscuits, Sivarajah and Sivam would talk at length about the creative process behind each work done over years spent in travel with her husband. Some of her most noted works such as the Colour of Rain series, Self Portraits, MetamorphosisandIridescence, and Twilight Raga, are featured in this volume.
Her family, whose personal accounts enrich the book, lends insights into the artist's personal life and values. Lakshmi Selvaratnam, her eldest daughter-in-law, fondly shares: 'My earliest recollection of her as an artist was at her home when we were children. They [her paintings] were colourful and abstract, unlike anything that you saw on walls at the time.'
For Lakshmi, Sivam's sense of shapes and colour was a point of intrigue. 'Sometimes, some pieces become a blend of sound and colour, and very much an expression of her inner self,' she says. On the other hand, her observational sketches and drawings show her penchant for planning and execution, and perhaps held up a mirror to her love for teaching.
Instinctive and curious
Sivam was multi-faceted. 'We cannot frame her into one genre. She was very adventurous,' says Sivarajah. She was passionate about textile, jewellery design, and printmaking — dabbling in both linocut and woodcut printing. How she analyses colour theory in her abstracts stayed with Sivarajah. 'A regular to Chennai's annual Margazhi festival, she was influenced by Carnatic music and the ragas.'
An educationist, she was always a teacher at heart, which also spoke to her perfectionist approach to art studies. 'She was instinctive, and always curious,' says Lakshmi. The artist's final piece of work titled Curioser (2014) — which reveals her unique exploration of memories through hieroglyphic symbols (and makes up the cover of this book) — is now at the National Art Gallery, along with another work titled Malapetaka (1962).
Peppered with artworks and personal essays, the book charts a life well spent in the company of art.
'Sivam Selvaratnam: A Life in Art' is on shelves now.
The journalist is based in Chennai.