An ode to childhood

You can take a person out of a forest, but you can’t take the forest out of a person. 63-year-old, Bikash Poddar left his home town, Kaliyaganj, when he was 14 but his heart is still dwelling in the jungles of Northern Bengal.

“It is but obvious that it will reflect in my work. I love nature and I haven’t forgotten my childhood, even at this age. I must have been five or six when I started exploring the surroundings of my house. There was a pond and a jungle to explore nearby. I use to be there the entire day, till dusk. I loved watching birds, foxes and unique plants. I used to be mesmerised by these things. My uncle then encouraged me to enroll in an art school,” says the painter whose recent exhibition “Kaleido-scapes: Nature in Vibrant Hues” explore these themes.

Art works by Painter Bikash Poddar

This exhibition explores a lot of rural landscapes and life in villages. The paintings clearly reflect his early memories. From people boating and fishing to shepherds and farmers working, the beauty of a lotus blooming in a pond to portraying women on canvas — he has tried to capture a wide spectrum of life.

Before making his mind to fully pursue the art of painting, Bikash worked in the advertising industry for almost 15 years. “I was very concerned with quality when I used to work at the ad agency. When computers came into the agency, it became extremely difficult for me to control the quality of the material being produced. And I made up my mind to take a leap of faith, so I quit in the year 2000 and started painting full time,” shares Bikash.

Portraying landscapes and juxtaposing it with human figures and flora-fauna, his works beautifully explore the potential of watercolours and these figures seem to blend in with the landscapes in an effortless manner. He has been inspired by Bengal art which assimilated from Chinese and Japanese calligraphic art as well as Indian styles of painting.

Art works by Painter Bikash Poddar

Bikash mostly uses the wash technique to paint his landscapes. While achieving a blend of figures and landscapes might be easy in a miniature painting, to portray it on a larger canvas is a huge challenge which he overcomes in each of his paintings.

“I visualise the painting, soak the canvas in water and start painting. But in this technique you only get half an hour to paint your entire canvas, as the water starts to dry up fast. Another rule that I have is to keep the initial canvas intact. I never crop or cut it out once the painting is done,” he explains.

His work begins with him waking up early at 3 am. “I paint from 4 am till 10 am and also try to paint in the evenings. It is something that can never tire me,” he shares.

Talking about seeking inspiration outside his childhood memories, he adds, “It is extremely important for a painter to observe minute details in order to paint well. Each setting has many sides to it. For example I can even find inspiration sitting in a cobbler’s shop and bring it alive on a canvas.”

The exhibition ‘Kaleido-scapes: Nature in Vibrant Hues’ is on at Gallerie Ganehsa till April 25.