In an exclusive chat with The Pioneer, art connoisseur Roy Thomas, who predominantly works with oil mediums, takes us through his journey, his artistic process, the ideas for his art, and more.
Ramartya Smaran
Roy Thomas’s oeuvre includes 12 solo shows covering a wide range of themes ranging from history, art, and media, and holds an MFA in painting from the College of Arts in New Delhi. Roy Thomas, who predominantly works with oil as a medium, is responsible for creating hundreds of thought-provoking images on the canvas. With over three decades of experience, he still thrives on the same enthusiasm as a passionate young artist.

The Keralite was born in 1966, and he was just eight years old when he first discovered his innate passion for painting images. The creator of “Unexpected Revelations” completed his BFA in painting with a gold medal under his belt from Kerala University,
Thiruvananthapuram. “My childhood was spent in a village in Kerala, South India, where I was first fascinated by the framed pictures of the “Way of the Cross” inside the church we went to every Sunday,” he recalled. Wondering what exactly about the ‘Way of the Cross’ intrigued the talented artist? “It’s human anatomy, perspective use, and especially the clouds painted on the deep blue sky,” Roy Thomas said.
Education, out of all things, is extremely important for the growth of an individual. In India, the education system has still not grown beyond the conventions of topping the class and cracking IITs and NITs. However, the young Roy Thomas was fortunate enough to find the right avenues to exhibit his talent. In the 1990s, when securing a job was considered the ideal thing to do, the painter from ‘God’s Own Country’ took the plunge and pursued a BFA and an MFA in painting. “Art education made me more involved in art practice, which helped me find a way ahead to realise my passion,” said Thomas when asked about his education.

In a career spanning over three decades, Roy Thomas’ arsenal of illustrious art work encapsulates Projected memories…fading realities (2005), View from the other end (2007), From the Vanishing Point (2008), Unexpected Revelations (2010), Fabula in Art (2011), Uninterrupted Tales (2015), and Near the Confluence (2019). All of the above solo exhibitions have received positive reviews from critics and art enthusiasts alike. We were curious to find out which solo exhibition Roy holds close to his heart. He told us that “Near the Confluence” (2019), at Arushi Arts in New Delhi, is really close to his heart. He further explained that through ‘Near the Confluence’, he was able to fulfil his longtime dream of experimenting with paintings from history as the subject of his paintings.
Roy Thomas also shared his artistic process with us: “I frequently use images from various sources to paint. I always chose images that were very well connected to my ongoing thought process at the time. Art, history, and current issues, as well as issues I am facing in my day-to-day life as an artist and its aesthetic and conceptual challenges.”
Every artist requires a driving force to draw inspiration from and breathe life into their paintings. An artist who doesn’t pay attention to his or her instinct is sure to miss out on greatness. This is most certainly true in the case of actors and painters because most of what these craftsmen and women do stems from their instincts.
“My basic instinct to draw and paint drives me to move from one painting to another,” said the painter, and he ended, “I do painting from a perspective that I developed through my continuous engagement with and practise in art. The concepts are inspired by observations I’ve made about life and reality. Subjects stand as an initiation to the process of my painting, and I believe my painting should be able to stand as an independent entity beyond its origin, references, and actual contexts. My recent works reflect my anxieties about the temporality of humanity’s most excellent creations in the light of fast-changing climate conditions and increasing global warming.”

On a lighter note, Arushi Arts is a long-standing art gallery that has been striving to promote Indian art on an international level. In the upcoming art fair, Arushi Arts will be showing three important living traditions of vernacular artists. Roy Thomas’ collaboration with Arushi Arts has been fruitful, and so we also reached out to art gallerist Payal Kapoor, the director of Arushi Arts Gallery, to learn more about the gallery’s future plans.
“Arushi Arts is in its 25th year since its inception. Arushi Arts is dedicated to promoting Indian art, but after the pandemic we realised that, like how the world became one in fighting this, art has no boundaries and all good art deserves to be shown. So we invited international artists from the UK, America, France, and Africa alongside our contemporary Indian artists from various states and cities in India. This show came about because of the uniqueness of the artwork, where each artist shows their intention, which is just to paint art and show good art. And art has no boundaries. This show is a part of the parallel art shows selected for the India art fair,” said Payal Kapoor.
She further added, “We plan to hold residencies and workshops for international artists in India. We have also started the DK Jain Art Prize for the last 7 years, where we have an eminent jury and give awards and an art show to the winner every year. This is for artists in the vernacular or textile weavers, or artists working with both.
The vernacular artists are extremely talented but are fast disappearing to become construction workers or go to work, leaving their traditions behind. We want to protect and revive these artists as well as help them view their work in the modern context of the present-day world.”