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Yolanda de Sousa

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From Football To Art

And right back to football!

Think about that spectacular winning goal by Mario Götze at the 113th minute of the World Cup finals. Did you get a rush of feelings watching the ball hit the net? Were there robust chills and joyous shivers through the spine? Or would the feeling best be described as distress? Now rewind to a few days before that fateful kick, and try to picture your emotions during the semi-finals. Can you paint a virtual picture of it? It’s not easy, but we have among us a delightful artist who has done just that!

Yolanda de Souza, a former football player for the Indian national team and now one of the most celebrated artists of Goa, unveiled her paintings inspired by her thoughts on the 2014 World Cup at Art Chamber in Calangute on July 12.

As the FIFA World Cup finals frenzy had just started kicking into Goan veins, this artist footballer expressed her ebullience not in tweets nor status updates but through confident yet carefree strokes on canvas, illustrating pure reverence. The sport is embossed in her memories, her being and the artwork she creates with great passion.

Yolanda was voted Player of the Decade by the Women’s Football Federation of India in 1980 and was the first woman to score an international hat-trick for India. Having showcased her art at exhibitions in London, Russia and many other places around the world, Yolanda has received acclaim for the multi-dimensional ceramic-like finesse she delivers in her acrylic and oil paintings. In this latest exhibit, however, water colours ruled the day.

Yolanda's Cristo Redentor

Cristo Redentor

She depicted World Cup footballers who bossed the game this season through humbly sketched doodles drenched in watered tints representing their national flags. Looking at the freehand pen work and slight daubs of rich water colour beauteously coating all 20 paintings, one can instinctively decipher the sportsmen’s features and the emotions they have stirred in Yolanda.

“It didn’t really take me much time to make these. They are just based on raw instincts that dripped out of my imagination during a particular state of mind”, says Yolanda. She herself was supporting Argentina, and had a particular soft spot for Brazil (despite the fact that her husband Rudolf is German!). Yolanda shared the story behind her painting depicting Cristo Redentor, the great statue of Rio de Janeiro. “I painted this when Germany was crushing Brazil in the semi-finals with an incredible score of 7-1, praying to the Lord to save Brazil”, Yolanda gushes.

yolanda

Yolanda

In the end, this World Cup was an emotional roller coaster ride for all who witnessed it. The boundless sentiments were poured out in many ways, from arguments to screams to solemn gatherings of friends. Yolanda expressed hers through art, and has made a lasting impression.