Sajal Sarkar

In your early works, you dabbled in the academic and surreal styles. What made you change your artistic vocabulary? How much bearing did your move from Kolkata to Baroda have on this transformation?

I always wanted to move on. This brought in change in my artistic style. I was pretty confident in my academic abilities and the comfortable environment of friends and stimulating adda in Calcutta. After a...

In your early works, you dabbled in the academic and surreal styles. What made you change your artistic vocabulary? How much bearing did your move from Kolkata to Baroda have on this transformation?

I always wanted to move on. This brought in change in my artistic style. I was pretty confident in my academic abilities and the comfortable environment of friends and stimulating adda in Calcutta. After a point, it seemed limiting and the urge to add something new, to touch the unknown compelled me to move. In my works certain complexities started emerging. This was also augmented by the situation I was in. The cultural scenario of Calcutta shaped my perceptions about music, poetry, politics and life. Now I think it was rather romantic.

A few of us travelled to Baroda to find something new .We were not sure what we were looking for .The impulsive decision was rewarded immensely. Printmaking as a discipline posed a new challenge. It shook my belief in my abilities. Here the freedom to think and the spontaneous and confident approach in art making inspired me to re examine my approach to art.

The male nude has always been central to your work. What does this figure represent for you? And what do you hope it will communicate to your viewers? It is said that your work is often self-referential. How would you respond to this?

My life by then was full of contradictions and turmoil. To have some semblance of stability/sanity, the act of painting provided a comforting arena to thrash out my ideas. The nude male body became a persona with which I had silent communication. It will be perhaps not out of context to say that my ongoing preoccupation with sexuality, sensuality and identity was reflected in my figuration. I have used my body as the central character. So the bony, elongated figures evolved from my self studies and gave me the pleasure of role playing.

Can you tell us a little about your creative process and some of the major influences that have shaped it over the years?

I approach the works without planning. The only decisions I take prior to starting the work is the choice of medium. I am quite comfortable with oil, watercolour, charcoal, dry pastels etc .I let the surface be a stage where I apply/play with the mediums like a musician plays with his tune. I apply layers and often over a period of long time the preoccupation shapes the imagery. Presently I have been experiencing an urge to move towards three-dimensionality.