Milind Nayak is one of those rare artists who speaks his heart out, not only on his emotive canvases, but also with his impeccable vocabulary, describing his journey as an artist. Such is the wizardry of the man that he is not just an artist who is painting in his studio. He is a narrator, a storyteller and a poet. Incidentally, in one of Nayak’s recent posts on social media, he gave us an understanding of what art means to him — “What is painting to me? A letter to a fellow traveler on the path. I have asked myself this question a million times. Is it only an activity that I do to earn a living? Was I chosen to have this gift? Have I handled this gift carefully? Have I nurtured it, allowed myself to work, and above all kept the faith in what I am doing? I realize that I have done all this. To keep the faith going, the artist has to let go of all inhibitions, doubts... An artist has to dream. Most artists do not realize that the activity of dreaming, even with their eyes open, is a choice they have to make. Believing in the dream is the next step... Making the dream real is the task of those who choose it.”
Yes, Milind has definitely lived his dream and has lived it big. A veteran painter, Nayak never shies away from meeting young artists and encouraging them to make it big. His talk show and slide show at NGMA — Fragments from an Unstructured Existence was an ode to a man who has always taken painting as not only his profession but as his life, with utmost passion and seriousness. Milind Nayak feels that his best years began when he started painting way back in 1990. Until then, he explored various forms and styles like photography. He was a part of multiple art groups in the city, and was supremely influenced and inspired by veteran GS Shenoy. Milind, in his first association with NGMA, intends to narrate his journey and tell the world how we all can achieve our dreams and make it big, just as he did, as he says famously, “If an idiot can do it, you all can”. For him art has become more greed infused, than a need for the artist. However, he wishes to share his wealth of knowledge and this will be a talk show which will inspire many more artists down the line. The talk show was held at NGMA on February 10.
— The writer is an art curator and art expert.
