Touch of the surreal
An artist’s journey is fraught with excitement, unpredictability and
the exploration of the unknown, particularly of the imagination and the
subconscious that engine the thought process, communicating through
artistic language the world of experiences.
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Layered with colour ‘Maiden In The Lotus Pond’ |
Prabhat Biswas, a Puducherry- based artist, showcasing his works at
Vinnyasa Gallery, takes the spectator on an inward journey of his
imaginative landscape — one that is peopled with fantastic, hybrid
creatures, and Nature in its plenitude. The unearthliness comes through
his mottled textured technique that he accidentally chanced upon while
working with his paints and brush.
Dream-like ambience
Prabhat, who is a self-taught artist, has been painting for the past
decade and his technique is labour- intensive manipulating his brush and
colours initially in three or four layers and then working out his
composition in terms of placement of his imagery. Certain areas are
reworked by applying white paint to create the background on which he
again applies his multi-layers to get the mottled effect. The many
layering with colours, create a kaleidoscopic and sfumatic effect, which
blend and integrate, resulting in a dream-like ambience.
His figures and forms have an organic appeal and every image whether
animate or inanimate takes on a life of its own, making his surface
energetic.
The blend of reality and imagination in Prabhat’s canvases gesture
towards a utopian world, free of angst and stress, filled with carefree
existence —dreaming, playing “catch me if you can”, or with buoyant
balloons.
The interface with objects as the balloon, door, lotus flowers, water
bodies implicate a strong creative urge through which Prabhat desires to
establish his artistic individuality. The door is a metaphor of the
liminal space — a threshold to be crossed over to a new place or ideas.
Balloons signify carefree attitude, joy and innocence; lotus
indicates spirituality and a capacity to rise above the mundane in life,
while water is the potent subconscious which enables the artist to
visualise obliquely his desires, feelings, emotions and sentiments.
The range of iconography in his works is ample evidence of Prabhat’s
bristling creative energies seeking to find expression. Endowed with
gentleness, his animals and insects, come alive. His works that have
balance and symmetry are also an appeal towards a concealed desire for
peace and harmony.
The iconography of Kamadhenu, yakshis, Ganesha or jackal-headed men
that populate his canvases is indexical of his creative fecundity. The
ambivalence of un-reigned imagination with contemplative serenity
manifest in the faces of his women mirrors an inherent conflict within
the artist.
The Hindu |
