I am a Visual Artist and a Lecturer in College of Art, Delhi and Amity School of Fine Arts. Also taught in Wigan & Leigh College, New Delhi. I'm into painting, using various mediums on paper and canvas. Also involved with many Publishers and NGOs for their projects in Delhi and other parts of India. A graduate from College of Art New Delhi. Have done B.F.A. in the year 1997. Got the Vice Chancellor Award in my final year.
If any person or organisation (Galleries, curators or corporate houses) wants to make my paintings or drawings, part of their Group show or Solo show, do contact me any time.
MY PROFILE - CAll Me @ (0)9810661959 Email [email protected]
Born : Feb. 02, 1975, Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Art Education : B.F.A., College of Art, New Delhi, 1997
Award : Vice-chancellor Award, College of Art, New Delhi, 1997
Art Camp : 2007 - Delhi Gymkhana Club, New Delhi
Art Workshop : 1994 - Artists Illustration Workshop, organised by India International Rural Cultutral Centre, sponsored by the Ministry of Welfare, Government of India, New Delhi Solo Show : 2010 Circus of the Absurd, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi Group Exhibitions : 2007 Delhi Gymkhana Art Show 2008 Ananya, an overview of Contemporary Indian Art curated by Sushma Bahl and organised by Bajaj Capital Art House at Visual Art Gallery, New Delhi. 2008 Rainbows in the Sun, organised by Pioneer Gallery, Ishat Art and Planet Art at LKA, New Delhi 1994-1997 Annual Exhibition, College of Art, New Delhi
Collection : Delhi Gymkhana Club and Community Against Drunken Driving (CADD)
MY ART JOURNEY - 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 children’s book illustration. Working for various publishers & NGOs from India and abroad, like: 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.
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. 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.
I try to spend most of my time in my studio doing painting or drawing with new materials and new ideas. Presently working on a series of paintings and drawings for my various upcoming shows in India and abroad. My style of work got much appreciation from galleries and curators from Israel, Italy, Germany and China, apart from galleries in Delhi. Recently in the month of February 2008 my work was among the 150 artists group show, at the “Rainbows in the Sun-part 2” art show by Pioneer Gallery and Ishat Art at Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi. Various artists, senior as well as young emerging ones were there - Arpana Kaur, Asit Patnaik, Bikash Bhattacharjee, Sanjay Bhattacharya, Dharmendra Rathore, Niren Sengupta, Paresh Maity, G R Iranna, Jai Zharotia, Jogen Chowdhary, K G Subramanian, Laxma Gaud, Shamshad Hussain and many others. 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. I give more importance to the idea and the form, than the surface or the color. Sometimes I use only two colours on a flat color surface. My favourite color is red. It smells of rebellion and creation. Sometimes you need to destroy the present realities to make space for the upcoming. The theme I am most touched by - is that of 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. Here the colours have a special role to play, depicting the depth of the emotional tussle between the various characters and situations. The fantasy world and reality are intermingled here, inseparable. Although it’s a dream world of possibilities, it breathes here. I often spend my time at the LKA library doing research on my present project, helping out by few cups of hot tea and samosas. It’s a solitary journey, through the corridors of time and occurrences beyond ones control. I Love this uncertainty around me, it fuels my imagination for new creation and helps the sponteinity. My constant struggle with my surroundings, initiate my ideation process. Pain for me is the sweet taste of success after much hard work. Me and my canvas (or paper) are the best of friends in this world of despair and deceit. I love to visit Mandi House ones in awhile. Also watch various plays at Kamani, LTG, Shriram Centre or at NSD. Theatre has a major role to play in my creative process. It inspires me to depict the rawness of life’s various dilemmas. It’s a catalyst for my creative life line. My journey has just begun, into the world of unknown…I know its beautiful.
But still I have miles to go…
