Self-taught artist Pulakesh Mandal was born in 1972 in West Bengal. He has participated 54 in group shows and two solo shows. He lives and works in New Delhi.
MY INSPIRATION
Nature and my life philosophy have been the inspiration for my paintings. Rewards, denials, hate and neglect I experienced along the way could not break me. Instead they shaped my work. I expressed
myself where I could do so without hindrance - my canvas. Colours have been my language. I constructed, deconstructed and reconstructed myself repeatedly. I did what I could. I neither repent nor regret that what I could not do or achieve. I relied on my honest effort alone. Hoped and believed that this will help me etch a space for myself in the vast expanse of the world of art.
Faults and errors are only human. And my creative work is free of neither. The seeking spirit of a learner continues to live on in my work. I shall remain a lifelong learner. I remain unflinchingly
honest with myself and my work. And I do not expect anything beyond what I rightfully deserve.
The symbols that appear and I use in my paintings - like fish to express depth, stairways to signify aspiration and ambition, houses and homes, plants and trees - are all natural. Love has been
the predominant theme of my paintings. Love, I believe can win over all. My life finds expression in the pain and pathos of the faces of the imagined characters in my paintings. The splash of colour merely a loosely hanging throw - my rewards and denials. I created my world drenched in the European style of natural geometric shapes.
Pulakesh Mandal
