Artist Golak Khandual talks to Ila Sankrityayan on how drawing is a harmonious continuation during an exhibition at IIC
His sketchs, be the woman playing a string game or the one who is about to hold a robot, directly communicate with the viewer. Human beings in Khandual's sketches try to move away from monotonous surroundings; they are lost in the world they belong to. Are they represent people from the real worldIJ “Yes. My works are primarily inspired by people from the real world. They come to my mind when I sleep or during a daydream or while I chat with friends or even strangers”, the artist says.
He named the exhibition ‘Drawings from my diary’ as the characters, most of them, are those who were created first on his diary pages. “These are drawings which got inspired from my diary on the pages of which they were initially created. Drawings of Kathakali (popular art form in Kerala) dancers have also been included in the exhibition which I created in joyous delirium. Drawing is about connecting two points. At a very basic level you could draw a line between two dots. I remember drawing hundreds of these lines between preset dots on sheets of paper in our first year architecture studio. It was like shadow boxing. I do drawing and writing at darkness at dawn. Drawing in the dark, for me is portraying the world precisely. In darkness I can recreate my dreams visually and also my past life which is overflowing out of my diary pages”, the artists speaks on.
“My drawings draw themselves. I watch with glee”, he adds.
The exhibition has around hundred drawings on paper, ten done in watercolour and the rest in ink and conté. Sharing about the technique while doing drawings in conté and ink, he said, “The crow quill pen I used to create the drawings is with me for the last forty years. I preferred to be subtle in using colours in order to show myself down. The pen and ink drawings of the show were created just a month ago”, he says.
“I keep drawing either on paper or in thin air. One drawing leads to another and so on. The process is a harmonious continuation. You would find me ogling at pretty women, pretty men, would keep watching on trees, plants, goats and sparrows. I may appear rude. But I am at work”, he quips.
The artists, who pursued Bachelor's Degree in Architecture from School of Planning and Architecture, says that becoming an architect has nothing to do with his creativity. “The desire to draw was not born out of learning architecture. I don't see much difference between architecture and drawing or cooking and singing. I am not a professional. I am not very fond of that word. Being a professional is about sitting pretty on the fence and being safe. I switch from one thing to another and it goes on. If I ever run out of ideas or money I would happily become a ‘bhikshu’”, he says.
This is a remote control message from the philosopher artist John Berger to me, the most precious thing that has ever happened to me. It's almost like a mantra that he passed onto me through another friend of mine, who herself draws everything from birth to death and from disaster to heartbreaks. That message was about life - “We all call it life. You won't call that workIJ Would youIJ That's living, that's life. That's breathing in a normal way, not puffing and panting!!," concludes Khandual. The show is on till August 16.