Kolkata, Aug 31 (IANS): A collage of contemporary paintings exhibited here is celebrating the spirit of womanhood and women empowerment, in tune with the festive fervour heralding Durga puja.

Four contemporary artists with distinctive styles have put up their works at the "Inner Eye" exhibition at the Gallery Gold here Friday.

"The landscape takes on a different hue right before the pujas and goddess Durga is the ultimate woman. The paintings reflect these two aspects of the Durga puja," participating artist-organiser Soumen Saha told IANS.

Spanning six days, the event is displaying 65 paintings by Samar Mukharjee, Srabani Roy and the Gurgaon-based self taught Aparna Banerjee.

Banerjee, a fashion designer by qualification, chose to wield the paintbrush to portray women empowerment. Bold strokes in acrylic that encapsulate subtlety of feminine figures are her calling cards.

"My work is themed on women and women empowerment. I think it needs to be reflected in art. Women are being empowered but a lot needs to be done," Banerjee told IANS.

Out of the 18 paintings she has brought to the gallery, three are in mixed-media - an amalgamation of several artistic media. The innovative use of sharp curved strokes created by using wide-toothed comb are striking features.

"The base for the three paintings are wooden trays that weathered over time and were treated. They were then used to paint," she said.