#ArtDiary: This Kolkata artist depicts semi-realistic fantasy through canvases

When one says that art is liberating, it’s mostly a felt-experience that a viewer expresses. But in the case of Kolkata-based artist Suniti Khastgir, her submission to the brush and the paint has indeed provided her wings “to fly” as her imagination allows in lifting her up from “the mundane”. This emotion is also visible in her canvases, which were recently displayed in Delhi’s India Habitat Centre, as part of a group show by contemporary artists, titled Parampara.
“My art is my meditation,” says the 62-year-old corporate professional-turned-artist, sharing how a spiritual phase in her life led her on to explore a higher purpose in submitting herself to art. “To me art is a higher form of human expression, something that makes us truly human and then takes us beyond… Painting leads me to meditative concentration, solitude and most importantly the belief in myself. This gives me the vision to see beyond the obvious into deep within, and this vision is manifested in the canvas,” adds Khastgir, who has exhibited her works internationally including the UK, Germany, and Hungary.

Since last decade this self-taught artist has worked in mixed media including charcoal, and also has to her credit the painting of the largest ceiling artwork in Kolkata (68ft). But for her recent series of paintings, she has chosen acrylic on canvas as the medium to reflect her innermost thoughts in a semi-realistic style. “The new series is inspired by poems such as Invictus by William Ernest Henley and Still I Rise and Phenomenal Women by Maya Angelou, as well as how my life journey relates to their writings. The reason I chose Invictus is because while growing up, my mother who was India’s first lady barrister judge, had given it to me and it stayed with me,” shares Khastgir, whose strokes attempt to contrast the human emotions against the semi-realistic backdrops. Unravelling the mystery behind her choice to focus on facial emotions, the artist explains, “I choose to paint blue eyes for human figures with dark complexion because I feel that people of colour and the tribal have been subjected to centuries of subjugation and yet carry that pain with dignity. Hence their blue eyes in my work depicts what is biologically not true but artistically allows me to depict how they continue to personify grace and serenity.”
It’s not just the humans that take the spotlight in Khastgir’s works, but also her love for animals! She adds, “I love animals hence they often appear in my work. And since I travel a lot, that also influences my works. In fact, my next series will be inspired by my explorations of Uzbekistan.”