Love is on the canvas
Artist Pradiptaa Chakraborty delves into the idea of love' through his paintings.
Air is omnipresent. It travels from one place to another, and it is what gives us life. Love, as it turns out, is no different — it is everywhere, it spreads everywhere, and it pretty much gives meaning to life. It is these thoughts that artist Pradiptaa Chakraborty captures across mediums of art in his solo exhibition entitled ‘Melted Parameters’.
Chakraborty says, “Air can travel anywhere and it doesn’t require a passport. Love is similar to that. It does not discriminate based on gender, age, religion, and it is always green like our Mother India.”
This way, the stories and scenes represented in the paintings are not just made to appear colourful and unique, but they showcase love and togetherness in various forms. Another striking aspect of these works happens to be the usage of complementary shades and the presence of numerous characters across the frame. One could definitely stare at each painting for a while, uncovering a new facet with every second spent observing.
Talking about what kind of challenges Chakraborty faced while creating these pieces, he reveals, “I didn’t have enough time to elaborate and portray my stories — all my thoughts and views — because that couldn’t work out in such a short amount of time.”
The mediums used by the artist include acrylic on canvas, watercolour (especially when it comes to his miniatures), and the unique tempera style. The tempera is an interesting medium that uses glutinous material such as egg yolk in its composition. As a result, these paintings acquire a unique look. Similarly, another unique medium, watercolour on rice paper has also been used. In total, 33 art pieces are being exhibited.
One of the paintings Chakraborty likes to speak about is called Mahabharata - Great India. He elaborates, “It is a story of the great Mahabharata that established different kinds of political situations and which is similarly going on in our society. We are soldiers, like in the epic, and we don’t know how someone is controlling us — which is a big dilemma going on in our society.”
The exhibition is ongoing at the Dhoomimal Art Centre in CP until December 10