Nikhileswar Baruah: ‘I want my work to raise issues - trivial or significant, personal or social.’

Nikhileswar Baruah is an immensely talented artist who has exhibited his works widely over the last decade or so. His show at Hacienda Gallery (April 23 to 30, 2009) is his seventh. Born in 1967 in Guwahati, he is based in Baroda. According to him, the language he uses makes the work seem tranquil, almost soothing. This contradiction lets one experience the work in a subjective way rather than ‘reading it literally’.

Q: What is the core idea of the show? How did it come about?
A: A lone figure in a vast space has been the core image of my paintings in recent years. On one hand, it talks about the alienated/isolated/individualistic man in today’s time, and On other hand, it talks about the smallness of man (as opposed to the taken-for-granted, perceived idea of man being bigger than nature, the idea that nature - and the rest of the world- is under man, to be explored and exploited). Since this alienated/individualistic man is a product of modern times, in this body of works, I have brought in his physical environment - the mega city. The box like repetitive structure of the city has been exaggerated to emphasize the mechanical/materialistic aspect of city life.

Q: How will you define your work?
A: It is difficult to define one’s own work. I guess the viewer and the critic will do a better job at that. I can only talk about what I want my work to be (whether I succeed or not is another point). I want my work to raise issues - trivial or significant, personal or social. I want my work to be visually arresting, and at the same time not just be a visual pleasure; I want my work to talk to the viewer; to create an atmosphere, a world in itself; where the viewer can get in, be there for a while, and most idealistically - carry home the feeling/experience. I try to be honest with my work, in the sense that my work should represent me - my views, my ideas, my thoughts, my feelings, my experiences - not something external or superficial.

Q: What is your preferred media?
A: I like the fluidity, transparency and sensitivity of watercolor, and try to maintain the same characters in my acrylic on canvases.

Q: How has the context of contemporary art changed over time?
A: I am not comfortable giving expert general views on art. I would like to just point out the fact that though in the immediate context art might not appear to be part of the common life, looking back historically, art has always represented its time. So the context of the contemporary art has changed over time along with the changing social, political, economic context - right from the cave paintings to the art of today. We are all part of the same revolving and evolving world though we might not recognise/realise it at the passing moment of the present.

Q: To what extent the complexities of modern life impact you as an artist?
A: I think my answer to the first question already answers this one.