People often say the poet needs the pain. Similarly, an artist often produces the best work under difficult conditions. Artist Abhijit Kumar Pathak is a perfect example of this. The boy from Bihar was a relatively young artist burning the midnight oil and waiting for someone to recognise his talent.
Cut to his solo show ‘Mosaic of Mysteries’ at Lalit Kala Gallery, Rabindra Bhavan. The exhibition was well attended, he had sales, and, more importantly, his 15- and 12-foot canvases got the eyeballs they craved. Such was the excitement that he is being touted as the next Subodh Gupta, though we may be getting ahead of ourselves here.
His studio in Chila Sarda Bangar Village near Mayur Vihar Extension in New Delhi is not exactly the place for a wine and cheese event. Once you have confronted the resident pigs and dogs, you climb up several stairs and reach the fourth floor of the building that serves as his studio.
“Sorry, the cooler just conked out and anyway there is no electricity most of the time here,” the artist smiles apologetically. Baking under the asbestos sheet that serves as roof, one understands why Pathak has shaved his head. He often paints in his shorts to beat the heat, sousing the khus-khus of the cooler with water that has to be hauled up the stairs from below.
Ink and dust
However, one forgets these pesky details as one steps into the room where Pathak creates his work. Every wall is covered with artwork of all sizes and shapes. It is difficult to call them paintings since Pathak is known for using a collage technique that involves several materials.
This explains the clothesline weighed down by random pieces of cloth that dominates part of his studio. “I collect these rejects from local tailors,” says Pathak. He works at a furious pace, mostly at night, picking pieces of cloth, matching them with globs of paint, pencil doodles, inks, wood shavings and cement dust as if he were a man possessed. He then treats the surface of the canvas bearing the assemblage with a resin and several ‘secret’ ingredients that preserve the cloth and act as adhesive to hold the composition together.
Pathak is known for using a collage technique that involves several materials.
“I never plan my canvases. I let them happen spontaneously. I love to be surprised at the end of a work and that is the experience that I like to share with my viewers,” says the 31-year-old. “I do like to make sketches and jottings while I travel,” he reveals. “Sometimes I don’t let the maid clean my studio since in this organised chaos, I know exactly where things are kept,” he admits sheepishly. There is also a stack of books, most of them moth-eaten.
Sachchidanand Sinha’s Chaos and Creation stands out as one of the most thumbed books. “He is my mentor without even knowing it,” says Pathak. Just back from Barcelona, Pathak has brought with him a new stack of tales, that will no doubt take shape in his studio. “I think that if I ever change my working space, it would affect my creativity,” he affirms, proving once more that sometimes the prettiest flowers grow in the most unlikely places.
The writer is a critic-curator by day, and a creative writer and visual artist by night. When in the mood, she likes to serenade life with a guitar and a plate of Khao Suey.
