My steps dissolving into a space that evaporates into thoughts I do not think…
– Octavio Paz
This free world… And its enormous labyrinthine space, my soul dissolving into it, evaporating into multitude of forms as testimony to my thoughts. Being out there, with my arms ever spreading out to embrace the limitless expanse of possibilities, I would say I am a creative citizen of this free world, always working towards creating new vistas of human endeavours. My ideas, colours and lines – my art – has been the most enlightened form of self-expression.
A Bengali in origin, I come from Kolkata. Did my BFA from College of Art, New Delhi in 1997. I first saw my dreams taking shapes when I won the “Vice-Chancellor’s Award”, the highest award of excellence, while in my final year. Thus, my journey into the professional creative world began in the year 1997. With every passing day, ever since, I have learned and earned everything that I could, immersing myself in all hues and colours – that is my world, my art.
I am involved primarily with painting and teaching as a Lecturer in College of Art, New Delhi. I worked for various publishers & NGOs from India and abroad as a Illustrator, Cartoonist and Designer, like: Times of India, Business Standard, Down to Earth, Life Positive, Computers Today, D.A.V.P., CII, Rupa & Co., Macmillan, Orient Longman, Oxford University Press, National Book Trust, Goodword Books, Harcourt Educational Publishing (Heinemann/Ginn & Reed, UK), Glen Tree Publishing (UK) and Pioneer Book House (Dubai), TERI, CSE, Manushi and Nirantar. Illustrations give wings to the imagination of children and allure their thoughts making it an essential part of the learning process. However, conceptualizing the theme and creating the visuals is not an ordinary job. I find children book illustration the most challenging and enjoyable creative job besides painting.
One needs to keep few important things in mind, before taking the plunge into the world of children books. The delicate and finicky world of children presents with lots of challenges. Especially if you are an Illustrator, dealing with images of the children’s world. Whenever I go through a new manuscript for any children book, the first thing that comes to my mind, is my own childhood days. It’s a dream world of infinite possibilities, with adventure, action, unknown beasts and colours. I always keep in mind a child’s mindset, before starting my drawings. Based on the initial writings, I try to put my own know-how of the children’s world into use. Try to do as much justice to the writer’s words, blending with my own views of he same. But take care to make it look humorous and funny with some elements of surprise put in. I have illustrated couple of books, which incorporates values of saving our environment using some elements of fun. I feel strongly regarding environmental issues. Teaching also gives me a lot of satisfaction, feels the joy of giving back to the society.
Recently during the 2008 World Book Fair, two of my illustrated books-“Bunbun and The Mango Tree” and “Toru Nanu and Hipu” done for Khaas Kitaab got selected for the 100 Best Children Books exhibition, from all over India, organised by AWIC and NBT.
Painting for me is the only source of feeling alive in this mundane world of despair and ignorance. I try to spend most of my time in my studio, doing paintings or drawings with new materials and new ideas, with stress on experimentation. Presently working on a series of paintings and drawings for my various upcoming shows in India and abroad. Had my first Solo show-“Circus of the Absurd” at Lalit Kala Akademi gallery, New Delhi during March, 2010. Also participated at the “Animamix Bienniale,” MOCA Shanghai 2009-2010.
My style of work got much appreciation from galleries and curators from Israel, Italy, Germany, China and South Korea apart from galleries in Delhi. My paintings and drawings got much appreciation from Prof. Victoria Lu, Creative Director, MOCA Shanghai (She is the first female Art Critic and Curator in the Chinese Contemporary art world), Ms.Vittoria Biasi, Professor of art, Curator and Art Critic from Italy and In-Sang Song, Creative Director of Seoul Art Center, South Korea.
This is the only process which gives my life a sense of meaning and I do believe painting made my life more sincerely truthful to myself. I just paint to feel free of all pain and desperation of this rusted life of ours. Like to explore the world with colours and lines. I find the use of line very intriguing. I believe in the strength of lines, it can create simplistic wonders of enormous value. Colours of limited volume and used with absolute justice to the subject can make it very purposeful at the end. Breathing life to my semi-abstract body of works is some time very time consuming and delightfully painful.
Like to experiment with various kinds of medium and surfaces. With my present series of work, I am working in acrylic, soft pastel, pen and ink on paper primarily. I am working in an abstract form but with figurative elements. In this series some of which are black & white while mostly color works, painstakingly drawn imagery often featuring hybrid creatures, partly human and partly animal. Sometimes there is no classification between the clown and the tigers, they change forms and get inter mingled, to surprise the audience. There is a juxtaposition of fact and fiction in my imaging with a touch of humour and satire. My characters perform their role in the circus of absurd within the urban arena. Because I get inspired by the daily nuances of the big city. Here my clowns or tigers and skeletons take on different characters of acrobatic performers. Influences of Indian folk and tribal art is visible but with a contemporary and global nuance.
In my present series of paintings and drawings, I have shown Man-kind’s constant fight with his inner dilemmas and the ultimate victory of truth and goodness. In this case I treated the subject with a social commentary style in the form of pictorial depiction. It’s a blend of satire and irony of our present day predicaments. One will find a clown or two struggling with four tigers. The clown uses golden daggers to fight with the tigers. The tigers personify the various vices of our own self, like - lust, anger, fear and envy. The golden swords are here to show truth and purity of heart one needs to use to overcome all this weaknesses. The tigers are heartless, selfish and materialistic, although they have a royal presence. A duality of character is visible in this case. They deceive the society and the circus shows there various characteristics at various times. Whereas the clown uses his sword made of gold to kill the tigers during the show. Shown cities being destroyed, faith being plundered by the tigers.
It also a part of the show. The tigers play with our innocence at every step of life. Sometimes impersonating the clown, to deceive us of reality. The imposter is shameless to play the role of a pure soul. But it didn’t last long and the clown takes back his reign of goodness after much struggle, with the help of a golden sword. You need a pure golden heart and faith to kill the tigers amidst us. During this ongoing contradictions and power play, the circus in itself becomes enriched with various emotions. I tried my best to capture all this intricacies in this series of works.
Here gradually the performance overwhelms the reality and in itself becomes reality. The ‘Sadhu’ and other characters have a certain role to play here. I have shown a boat in most of the paintings or drawings, to show homeland and our place in this world. It is made of wood, showing vulnerability. Sometimes it has got wheels, to show its unstable or flowing. This Circus of the Absurd is the circus of our physical word.
Absurdness is now so common and obvious around us. The various acts of absurdity by the clown and the tigers gives one a feeling of dark humour and sometimes fantasy, but it all is so true.
My works are in the collection of ART ALIVE GALLERY, COLLECTOR'S STOP ART GALLERY, DELHI GYMKHANA CLUB, AIFACS, HABIART FOUNDATION, many private collections in INDIA, NORWAY and CANADA.