Social media has given me a direct window to interact with great, contemporary artists. Apart from being able to access their work, process and sources of inspiration, occasionally it offers wonderful opportunities. Often, this takes the form of direct responses to my queries about their process. Other times it can be a total surprise, and this is what happened recently.
NFN Kalyan, one of the most interesting and important artist of our times, did a series of interviews on his instagram with artists he found interesting, including me. While being deeply humbled to have been featured, it was difficult at first to put words on paper about my work. But I’m glad I was given this opportunity. Here is the full interview.
There are no caps in the questions, because that’s how Kalyan likes it.
you often paint solitary figures that appear to be some distance away from the viewer. why do you pick this subject matter and what meaning do you have behind it?
Painting people from my immediate surrounding, engaged in their routines, provides an unfiltered and real source of inspiration. The subject offers, apart from the technical challenge of capturing the play of light and movement, an immense scope for examining the human condition. Every time I remove these strangers from their backdrop and paint them fully immersed in their pre-occupations, I remind myself of my transience – my personal aspirations or broader societal issues, everything pales in the face of my mortality. We are here today, bustling, and gone tomorrow. Yet, perhaps as a sign of defiance or sheer ignorance, we live each day like we’ll last forever. We continue to work.
is there a reason you prefer watercolor as a medium?
I love the challenge that watercolour inherently presents as a medium, and enjoy its fluid possibilities. When I paint with watercolours, the feeling is natural, unforced – all i’m doing is prodding the pigments to settle gently to a designated corner or space. As a medium, I find it easier to set-up, paint, and put-away – which is important because I have a regular job, which is occasionally demanding. Watercolours allow me to steal a few minutes to paint on most days, whereas with oils or acrylic I feel the need for a more elaborate “zone” to be in before i can start. Also, I like to complete my figurative work in one sitting, and watercolour lends itself to that need quite neatly.
should an artists creative process involve social responsibility?
Well, as individuals our every act bears an impact on our society – either actively, by engaging with societal issues head-on, or passively, by steering clear of commenting upon them. The same philosophy extends to artists and their output. The only choice offered to artists, like all members of society, is to engage actively or passively with issues. Artists have the opportunity of creating work that can be more evocative than absolute numbers or data.
It’s also disappointing to see “modern” visual art obfuscate this power with mindless verbiage.
where do you feel your art fits in the art world of india and the greater art world?
“The art world” of India, or outside of it, as a set of people, their opinions, and as an industry, is something that I have very limited experience of. Hence, today, I cannot say where my work would fit in. I have only begun in my journey.
If I had the freedom to choose a place for it, in the art landscape as I see it, I will place it in a niche which serves to simply remind people that we are all equal, despite our ambitions, achievements, and beliefs. Mortality and destruction of the individual is the common denominator – it may serve us well to remember this.
I’m conscious of the incredible talent around me-artists are chronicling, commenting upon and even directing events that our shaping our society. It may be a long while, and after creating a huge volume of work, that my work can aspire to earn a place in the domestic or international landscape. There is of course a high likelihood of it being completely forgotten.
what is the most dangerous mistake an artist can make in their thinking?
This is a multifaceted question.
Dangerous mistake in thinking, when it comes to their skill set or technical abilities, is to assume that they’ve learnt everything there is to know about a medium. It will lead to stagnation.
With regard to external validation, it’s a mistake to let it dictate your creative output. It may take you to places you never wanted to go.
A mistake, with regard to the utility of our work, is to overstate, or understate, its importance. Art will not solve the most pertinent problems of our time – but while our work may not directly vanquish human strife, it may set-off a chain reaction and inspire others who have the strength and position to do so. The same holds true while thinking about other artists’ work.
can you just tell me bit of your biographical information. where you were born. where you live and how you came into art.
I was born in Mangalore, a coastal city in south India. I grew up in Bangalore, which has come to be the information tech capital of India. Bangalore is still home. Mangalore is where summer vacations were spent, and I still visit it whenever I can – its where I’m closest to nature.
By education, I hold a bachelors degree in electronics and communication and a masters in business administration. I work with one of the leading software product companies in India, helping sell their suite of products across Asia Pacific.
I’ve always been painting as far as I could remember. My mother has been the greatest influence, and her encouragement has ensured that it stayed with me beyond school. Earliest memory of painting includes me wanting to win the annual painting competition in 5th grade – however, my friend Deepthi, won it as always (I don’t think she paints much these days, but she’s a good photographer, and a brilliant Doctor – she now lives in the US)
About Kalyan.
His work is highly conceptual, most-often entered around the destructive nature of human nature. “The great men we have killed, the environment we have destroyed and the lies we tell ourselves are terrible things. But we are supposed to hate the sin and love the sinner. And the sinner is everyone who looks at my work. And the sinner is me. Because we are all human”. Here is one of my favourite work of his:
The Kali Yuga (hexaptic) oil on linen, 12ft x 9 ft. Image courtesy NFN Kalyan.
