This Valentine’s Day, take a break from chocolates and all things heart shaped… because artist Sisir Sahana has a better way for you to profess your love – through cards and canvas.
On display at Kalakriti are artworks and cards by the artist who is famous for his glass sculptures and paintings. And it all started a few years ago. “I was doing a series in 2008-2009, with digital prints superimposed on my art, and that’s when I realised that I liked it. It was during this time that I also started writing romantic poems and I thought that they could be a nice addition to my artwork,” says Sisir.
So he created a series of art that complemented his poetry. But the artist felt that the poems were too long to go with the artwork. “I sent the poems to a friend who is a writer, he helped me with a few suggestions and sent the poems back. So I cut them down to a few lines and started using them in my art pieces,” he adds.
But Sisir wanted to get the attention of the younger audience as well. “I realised that if I wanted youngsters to see the work, I needed to do something that they are familiar with. Then I started converting the lines from my poems into SMS lingo. A few youngsters told me how to change the words and make them more ‘SMS-friendly’ and I did that,” he says.
Currently at Kalakriti, close to 22 of Sisir’s works are on display along with a set of cards that can be bought. “The idea was to bring love and art together, so I created digital prints of my art and made cards out of them,” he adds. The last time Sisir did something like this was five years ago. He says, “Back then, too, I created cards, but I feel that people are more responsive to such things now.”
