Scattered throughout his Cheras home are his original paintings – portraits of deities and renowned leaders, his fond memories while growing up, and inspiration obtained from his travels.
His art studio holds brushes, palettes, rows and rows of oil paints and poster colours, and a beautiful scenic painting he completed seven months ago before a family emergency forced him to put down his paintbrush.
Pologanathan points out a regal painting of Sultan Azlan Shah and expresses his admiration for the late King.
“I always found Sultan Azlan Shah to be a very learned man. I met him as a schoolboy in Robinsons; he was there looking at watches. I have always admired the way he expressed himself.”
He was inspired to paint the portrait after having learnt of the Sultan’s death in 2014.
Pologanathan credits his father for encouraging him to develop a love for the visual arts. His father would buy brushes, watercolours, and art blocks for him as a child, despite the hardships faced by the family.
At one point, he had to stop painting completely to focus on making a living.
“During my college days, I used to sketch portraits for my friends, but I could not find the time when I began working.
“My background is actually in the oil and gas industry, where I was a piping designer for onshore and offshore facilities,” says Pologanathan, who rediscovered his love for the arts after he retired.
Wasting no time, he purchased materials, met fellow painters, visited exhibitions, and began experimenting with his own painting skills, dabbling in various media such as oil paints, watercolours, colour pencils and poster colours.
Pologanatah points reverently to a photograph of a man, his role model, with a fresh flower placed below it in homage.
“His name is Raja Ravi Varma, an Indian artist who is considered among the greatest painters in the history of Indian art,” he explains.
“His original paintings hang in Mysore Palace. I have visited it twice just to have a look at his astounding work.”
Pologanathan is devoted to his craft, and this is most evident when he maintains a strict dietary regime while working on paintings of saints and deities.
His paintings of the Indian god Ganesha and of the Catholic Divine Mercy took more than three months each to complete. Pologanathan kept his word and remained a vegetarian until each was finished.
His painting of the Divine Mercy hangs in St Francis Xavier church in Melaka. But his favourite religious artwork is of Ganesha, the elephant god.
“I actually came across the magnificent statue during my travels in Karnataka, where the sculptor sculpted the deity out of a single block of rock,” he recalls.
“Unfortunately I was not allowed to take any photographs. But even as I came back to Malaysia, the image of the statue lingered in my mind.
“So I visited the library in the Indian Cultural Centre and in my first book, there it was – an A4-size photo of the statue on the first page of the book.”
Last November, Pologanathan was inspired to showcase his work. He finished a series of paintings, had them framed, and even secured a gallery to hold an exhibition.
Unfortunately, there was a tragedy in the family forcing him to put his plans on hold and take up a full-time caregiver role.
It took him seven months since the incident to find the courage to clean his art studio and pick up his brushes again.
“I am trying to get some help from the welfare department so I’m keeping my fingers crossed,” he tells FMT.
“I sold a couple of my paintings at a very cheap price in order to be able to afford medication and other essential requirements.”
But Pologanathan believes that when life throws obstacles in the way, help will arrive, and he has no plans to stop painting.
“I will paint until I can’t hold my brushes anymore,” he smiles.
“I want people to look at my work and understand the little details flowing through them; to give people a sense of peace. It’s not just colours to me.”
To buy one of Pologanathan’s artworks or to commission a painting, contact him at 012-2057391.