To begin with, could you please tell me a little about yourself? Where you come from and what were your growing up days like?
I was born in North Kolkata, which is where I continue to live even today. My childhood was in a joint family and I experienced all its associated drama and complex-cities. There were innocent times and tough phases. But my daily walks in and around the lanes and by lanes was routine amidst which I always seemed to be seeking something.
I studied in Rabindra Bharati University, Jorasankho where I took formal training in art. Before that I did not have any training in art or visited any private art classes which many young girls and boys do. Having joined my undergraduate course after school, I saw my friend Gopal Paul‘s drawing of a buffalo and suddenly realized I too wanted to toe his line by joining the art field.
When and how did your romance with the arts begin? Did you doodle a lot as a child growing up? Fill up the last pages of your notebooks?
So my romance with arts began a bit late when I was pursuing my undergraduate studies. I did not doodle on pages. What I did was whenever I found any wall plaster that had come off; in the discolored areas I worked around the shapes with a brush of water and drew tigers, lion and human forms.
Who were your idols you looked up to growing up?
The world is so vast and I found so much to appreciate in many people not limited to one or few.
What inspires you and informs your your art?
I am inspired and fascinated by old papers, letters, documents, gramophone records, household vessels, arte facts, period and vintage furniture, mirrors, even pillars and posts specially in and around North Calcutta. All these objects and their essence that I carry somehow get reflected in the crisscross effects in my paintings.
Tell us about the time where you delved into CV Raman’s work in Bangalore and what did it stir in you?
When I was first asked to work on the commemorative stamp for the 75th year of the Raman Research Institute, I visited Bangalore. Till then I was an admirer of his illustrious personality from a distance. On my first visit to the institute and his house I had the privileged of being a witness to many things associated with him in an intimate way. From this personal experience I was moved by all that I saw and felt and it stirred many emotions in me.
Which were the works you chose to work upon and why?
I specifically chose to work upon the paintings depicting butterfly, pigeon family and chandelier. All carry the messages of activity, silent withheld stories and emotions, of time periods and culture of a specific time and of trapped memories.
Talk to us about your creative process. Why did you choose tempera painting as a medium? What were the aspects of his work you wanted to retain?
I think tempera is best suited for our Indian weather conditions. I am comfortable using tempera and find it a unique process and each time I have used it I have learnt something which seem to have fine tuned my engagement with it. I wanted to retain the colors blue, effect of light and shade and natural elements in my works all of which were connected with Sir CV Raman.
What do you love most about the Nobel laureates’ work?
I have immense awe and respect for his genius, his focus, his scientific mind, his interest and engagement with music, his love for nature and for peace and overall aesthetics.
What does your own work stand for?
I would say honesty and loyalty.
Words Hansika Lohani
Date 28.06.2024
