Mumbai artist Digambar Chichkar’s latest series is a reflection of a personal journey
Digambar's work titled Braiding Soul and Optimist
“Art is not what you see, it’s what you make others see” — these words by Edgar Degas seem especially true when you consider the work of Digambar Chichkar, a Mumbai-based painter and sculptor. An exhibition of his paintings, titled Drustikon, is on display at the Jehangir Art Gallery, Kala Ghoda, Mumbai till November 9. Digambar’s paintings are a representation of the human mind, reflecting the hues of everyday life. The most arresting aspect of his work is that it depicts faceless human beings.
The face may be the index of mind, but Digambar feels that the face is not mandatory to reflect the emotions in a human representation. “The face of man may be unreal and put-up. There are times when a person has something in his heart, whereas his face says something else altogether. The faceless figures in my paintings radiate the human emotions of pain, anger, struggle, joy, envy, excitement and exploitation, thus expressing the mind to be the actual face of man,” explains the 61-year-old artist, a J.J. School alumnus.
Explaining his style a little further, Digambar says, “This (art) is my understanding of nature, culture and society. The incidents and expressions displayed in my paintings is my drushtikon towards life how I visualise things. I also believe that form and mood are the body and soul of any painting, rather than style, so that reflects in my work as well.”
Of the 25 works that he is displaying at Jehangir, Digambar tells us that it took nearly a year to get his masterpieces in place.
The hues and colours on his canvasses have been enhanced with an acrylic and texture combination, and Digambar says he has tried to create the illusion of moods, through these paintings.Incidentally, Digambar is well known as a sculptor as well, and apart from sculpting events at the historic Ellora and Elephanta sites, he has also worked on several installations for public places and traffic islands in Mumbai. With a series of sculpting exhibitions lined up next, Digambar is a busy man indeed!
He tells us that he wishes to pass on his artistic legacy to his daughter, who is currently pursuing a Masters in Architecture. “Every individual has a moral responsibility of giving back to the society he belongs to,” he says. “I do it through my art.”
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