Samir Mondal

Artville Artist Of The Day 
Samir Mondal 
Title: From the series ‘Dhusar Pandulipi- The Faded Manuscript’, on poems of noted poet Jibanananda Das 
Medium: Water Color On Hand Made Paper 
Size: 56 X 76 cm

Traditionally watercolours were always characterised by a soft weightless feel and a foggy appearance to create a soothing illusion of perspective and depth. I tried my best to stay clear of this, and break the traditionalism by incorporating definite structure and bolder colour to my style. I guess to understand the evolution of my style, it’s important to understand the very character of watercolour painting. Every brush stroke involves some sort of modulation and variation in pigment deposition, unlike oil painting which is uniform throughout a stroke. This character was used to represent outdoor themes and landscapes as close to reality as possible. But today with a camera, which can truly represent perspective and dimension flawlessly, I thought of moving away from the traditional application of watercolours and to use the two dimensional space of my paper with motifs and play with the lack of perspective depths.
During my learning phases, I was overwhelmed by the works of many western greats, from the simple everyday objects and vibrant colours of Van Gogh to the bold and dynamic visualisation of Robert Rauschenberg. From impressionist visualizations to Fauvism of Henri Matisse, all these great workers and their works have had a huge impact in developing my style. None of them used pure watercolour to express themselves. So I tried to incorporate the modern visual language into a new medium. I tried to use simpler everyday motifs, bolder structured forms and strokes, compose abstract areas with more detailed subjects in the same plane, use absurd and vibrant colours, etc. In fact some of my works reflect the treatment of colours and structural quality associated with oil paintings rather than watercolours, this is one of the conscious efforts to diverge from the traditional watercolour applications.
Also I tried to experiment with the size of the paintings. I have done some really massive works in watercolours to give the powerful and dynamic visual appeal one associates with other mediums. My style today involves the influences of different cultures, themes, styles and techniques that I have been exposed to throughout my career. They are forever evolving, learning from the medium itself. I love the accidents and unpredictability of the medium, the happenings from the mixing and merging of the medium beyond our control. I am merely guiding these processes to a meaningful conclusion.
courtesy: samirmondal

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