Though they come from varied backgrounds and schools of thought, they were on a mission to work together creatively and produce masterpieces on canvas by capturing life around them. Ten artists from eastern parts of the country, mostly first-timers to the State, had come in for a four-day eastern zonal painters’ camp organised by the Odisha Lalit Kala Akademi. They got busy with their brushes since Friday to create individualistic impressions on life. All of them belonged to the contemporary school of painting and worked on acrylic on canvas.For artist Chunaram Hembram from Jharkhand, it was a rare opportunity for artists to meet, interact and exchange ideas and getupdated on art and culture of other states. He created a painting of ‘Trishakti’ pointing at a man with a gun seated on an animal. “The animal has a power of itself which is today controlled by a human. The human again is controlled by a non-living element - a gun, which again has emerged as a power,” he said.Lalit Chandam Singh of Manipur gave his artistic interpretation of a Manipuri dancer. The usages of colour and brush strokes were distinct from the regular acrylic works.Assam’s Sanjib Kumar Gogoi’s art was themed around existence of god and human. He decorated his canvas with motifs of rock paintings and Assamese folklore. Likewise, being inspired by the rich culture of Odisha during his journey to Bhubaneswar for the camp, Vijay Mani Thulung of Sikkim drew a slice of Odisha’s heritage.Odisha’s Parmeswar Samal captured everyday scenes on his canvas in a more personal undertone. His series of works are mostly related to urbanisation and subsequent ‘concretisation’. Besides Samal, Manas Ranjan Jena and Sunil Kumar Das of the State participated.For all the artists, there was a sense of camaraderie in the camp. “All artists are trying to find their own expression. We come out of our studios and learn to exhibit our work without being self conscious. Response and reactions are welcome. The positive comments make us happy but negative ones make us think and grow,” said Motilal Koloi of Tripura.Nitai Samanta of West Bengal is in concurrence: “We are the sum total of all our experiences, meeting people from different cultures enriches us and in turn, our work.” He feels that his work as an artist does come in the way of interpersonal relations. The artist has a private space only he or she can access. “All of us here understand and share this sentiment.”He added that such events are opportunities to develop one’s talent. “We have a nebulous notion of what we want to draw on our canvas. When ideas grow into forms, sometimes we surprise ourselves.”All the creations at the camp will be added to the Akademi’s art collection. Secretary of the Akademi R N Rath said the camp was an excellent opportunity for emerging artists of the State to interact with experts from other states and learn in terms of exchange of themes and techniques.The artists were felicitated at the end of the four-day camp on Monday at an event attended by Development Commissioner Rabi Narayan Senapati, Utkal University of Culture VC Amiya Kumar Pattanaik and president of the Akademi Durga Prasad Das.
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