SPOTLIGHT ON: ARIJITA DAS

A Shy Artist With Confident Strokes

Artist Arijita Das and  one of her paper collage works
                                        

On a visit to Kolkata some time ago, I met a shy lady at a community gathering, who had one of the sweetest smiles I have encountered in my social circuit. We were introduced and left to ourselves, which was fortuitous as to my pleasant surprise, she turned out to be an artist, and to her utter surprise, I turned out to be a writer of the arts. Our evening, therefore, developed into a series of long discussions, which introduced me to her skills as an artist.

That artist is Arijita Das, who is based in Kolkata (even though I still prefer Calcutta); she is the mother of a 10-year-old daughter Shatabhisa, and is the wife of a noted cardiologist of Calcutta, Dr Sukamal Das. The two realise that they have an amazing artist in their midst who needs only encouragement for her art to become better known; while the daughter, despite her age, doesn't disturb the mother when she is painting, the husband encourages her like a true professional. Says Arijita, "When my husband learned about my passion, he supported me with all the resources required in this field. He always motivates me to do more work."

Arijita is a naturally gifted artist; her well-balanced and aesthetic works belie the fact that she does not have a professional degree in the subject. After completing her schooling from Kendriya Vidyalaya Nagaon (Assam), she earned a BCom degree with Accountancy Honours from Nowgong College and an MCom degree from Gauhati Commerce College, Assam.

Of all the works I have seen of Arijita's, her portraits in paper collages are my favourites. But the range of her art is unlimited as a selection of her works in this post will show.

Paper collage portraits of pioneering Bengali poet and playwright Michael Madhusudan Dutt (left) and Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore (right)

Since my first meeting with her, the artist has shared little nuggets about her life and art, some of which I share through excerpts of an interview as follows:

Q. How did you get interested in the arts in the first place?

I have loved painting since childhood. In school, I used to participate in various drawing and craft-related activities, and my teachers used to appreciate my work. My elder brother, Abhishek Das, is also very good at painting. He guides me when required and always motivates me to try something new in my artworks. 

Q. Could you share the techniques of making art that you practice?

I enjoy doing oil paintings and acrylics. Collage is also my favourite medium. I have created many works in collage such as landscapes and portraits.

Q. Who has been your inspiration?

I was born and brought up in Assam. My initial drawing school was named Ruparanga. The principal of Ruparanga, the late Pranab Baruah, was my inspiration. I like to follow his techniques in painting. I grew up learning many things from him, from painting to real life experiences.

Q. Who are the artists whose works you admire?

Among the artists of the past, I admire the paintings of Raja Ravi Varma, Amrita Sher-Gil, Abanindranath Tagore and Rabindranath Tagore. I find Raja Ravi Varma's detailing in his work especially attractive. Gerhard Richter, Peter Doig, Julien Delagrange, Anish Kapoor and Sanatan Dinda are some of my favourite artists from recent times.

Q. What has been your most favourite theme that you have worked on in all these years? 

I enjoy creating emotional and realistic paintings as well as portraits. Some of my paintings are: 'Basic Need', where a mother is breastfeeding her child while drinking water from a river. 'In Mother's Lap' shows a small, orphaned child, missing his mother, who then draws a picture of her with chalk on the roadside and sleeps inside it. In 'A Pinch of Love', a photographer takes a picture of some tribal children who are far removed from modern technologies and shows them how they look in the camera.

 

 Left: Amio Durga (I too am Durga)

                                                                                                                     A Pinch of Love

In Mother's Lap

I have also created many portraits in collage using newspapers and magazines, such as those of Rabindranath Tagore, Kazi Nazrul Islam, and Michael Madhusudan Dutt.

A paper collage portrait of Kazi Nazrul Islam

Q. What is your vision for your practice for the next few years?

Painting is my passion and my peace of mind. My guru, the late Pranab Baruah, taught me that if you follow your passion and love your work, you will be successful one day. In the next few years, I see myself as an important part of this ecosystem of paintings and drawings. 

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