He has been painting canvases of varied
hues and sculpted forms and figures for the past 50 years
establishing an independent art idiom for the North-East and
carving out a niche for himself in the art circle of the country.
Shobha Brahma, who overcame many hurdles to pursue his
creative quest, is an artist whose fame has reached the
international art arena. Brahma’s creative journey has been long
and tortuous but he has never wavered in his pursuit of creating
‘meaningful and original art’.
"I have always tried to create
something new and original and my quest has been to give a
new direction to Indian art," says Brahma. Brahma is perhaps
the first artist from the North-East, who attempted to create ‘new
art’ which is peculiar to the region with specific ‘direction and
idiom’.
"I have always been fascinated by the tribal and folk arts
of the region and have carried out extensive studies in this field,
which are evident in my works in some form or the other," says
Brahma, who belongs to the Bodo tribe. Brahma studied in detail
the lives, art, cultural background, forms and colour of the
North-east tribals like the Bodos, the Rabha, the Dimasas and
others, and created art with a contemporary touch.
"Ancient Egyptian art, the murals of Ajanta, miniature paintings
of different schools, Santiniketan and its unique ethos -- all have
played a dominant role in my evolution as an artist," says
Brahma, who was trained by great masters like Ramkinkar Baij
and Nandalal Bose for years. He spent four years studying in
Cotton College in Guwahati from 1948 during which he
extensively studied the traditional sculptural forms at Madan
Kamdev, Kamakhya, temple, Sukleswar temple and the various
ancient sculpted forms preserved at the museum here.
After that Santiniketan beckoned the young artist, who
overcame financial and logistic difficulties to cross the
Brahmaputra and reach the then art capital of the country.
"Santiniketan was a refreshing experience and I was fortunate to
be trained under the likes of Ramkinkar Baij and Nandalal Bose
who left an indelible influence," he says. It was at Santiniketan that Brahma was inspired to study the art of Ajanta and "Indian art was imbibed in my psyche."
It was, however, on his return from Santiniketan that Brahma
was faced with a ‘creative conflict’ on whether to continue with
Indian mainstream tradition or produce art specific to the
North-east free from influences and trappings of any particular
school or style.
"I was torn between Santiniketan and North-east... the conflict
between Indian mainstream tradition and the urge to create an
independent idiom in art for the North-east.... Besides, there was
also a conflict between life in Santiniketan and the harsh reality
here," he says. Brahma struggled for two years to get rid of
Santiniketan’s influence and he used various techniques and
carried out experiments to achieve this. "I virtually stopped using
the techniques and media used in Santiniketan and instead of
using the brush, I used palette knife to get rid of the influence",
says the artist, who went on to establish an independent style
peculiar to the region, which many of his students have tried to
emulate over the years. Women have always found a special
place in Brahma’s canvas and the artist has explored their forms,
physical contours and their inner strength in many nuances. "I
have explored the evolution of women through ages as women
and nature and the interlinking of the two have always had a
special fascination for me," he says.
Brahma has always attempted to evolve and adapt
contemporary trends, subjects and techniques in his works.
