Nandan Purkayastha focusses on strong lines to create works that mostly talk about history. Team Viva reports
Earlier most of his works were about monochromes and were based around geometric shapes. For his recent series, artist Nandan Purkayastha moved away from the monochromes and has infused some colours into his paintings. Certain images of warriors are well blended within the lines. The artist has also displayed some of his works from the series The last Supper at the ongoing show, Strokes of Narratives, at Nitanjali Art Gallery. “I have always believed that strong lines play a major role in any work, so be it in my sketches or now my paintings, lines and abstract forms have played a key role,” shared the artist.
The paintings on display used blue and pink colours. A detailed look reveals the figures within the lines and abstract forms. The artist brilliantly merges both —lines and figures, giving viewers a hint of what he has been doing since last four years and what new elements he has included in his drawings.
Talking about his inspiration, the artists revealed that most of his themes originate from his travels. The one featuring unnamed warriors emerged after he travelled to Prague last year. “I was inspired by the architecture, historical monuments and images there. Some figures of warriors remained in my mind even when I returned and therefore I decided to do a series on it. But while painting the warriors I kept in mind that it should not be all about weapons or war,” said Nandan and added that his earlier series was based in Varanasi.
“My works draws inspiration from elements which impart retellings of unconscious and idealised memories, a sort of collective knowledge. The ghats of Varanasi have been an inspiration to many. The place offers an interesting mix of natural beauty and people. I wanted to put down the scene from the ghats as it is on the paper, therefore most of the works in that series were of sketches. They bring out the people and everything else that the ghats of Varanasi are known for,” added he.
Nandan said that he treats his theme as a storyline and works around it. The main focus, though, remains to be on the forms, dimensions and coming up with strong lines and images, intertwined, that can easily draw the attention of the viewers. While some of his works are done on canson paper, others are based on khadi paper.
The artist says he will continue to experiment with paint and ink and will probably draw more historical references for his next out-of-the-box series.The exhibition continues till March 1.
