Artist Statement

Words and images have been an inseparable part of my life for as long as I can remember. They have always played a pleasant game in my life, complementing each other almost at all times. Their relationship never ceases to amuse me. In fact, my love affair with these two began way before I even became aware of their indispensable presence. When one failed, the other rushed to my succor.

Often, when words are inadequate or fail to keep with the pace of my mind, I suddenly switch over to lines and inadvertently so and vice versa too. A glimpse at my college note books is a testimony to this complex process.

In fact, nothing better explains this progression than the book, "Gateway" which is one of my humble efforts at vindicating this complex process. I penned down my impressions about people and places in Mumbai and sketched images of the complexities of urban life. I do not recollect what came first- whether sketches or words. But then, none of them was meant to precede the other. It had to be a mixed process switching between words and lines to be able to best express myself.

Writing, drawing and painting are passions closest to my heart. I am often asked what makes me pick up a brush or a pencil and what makes me draw or paint. But, it seems like it is the most difficult philosophical question I am faced with.

When I stand before an empty canvas, there is an urge, an instinct, to fill up the space. The canvas is no more a piece of paper but a universal void, emptiness, silence. It screams to be pampered, to be filled. And then, when my brush finally marries the canvas, there is complete oneness, advaitva. The end result is the outcome of this complex process.