THE ROOTS OF FANTASY By Manas Paul The Child remains glued to the sky as swelling clouds hovering overhead keep on taking mysterious yet evocative shapes- an elephant with half hidden body or an ancient lady through whose whitish hair the setting sun glows softly. Often there are two more animals- a lion and a bull, perhaps. Or is it again a human or the God Himself in the sky as the grandma seeks to believe? The child does not know what exactly they are but still the riotously engaged figures- mysterious and surrealist creatures – and the half finished theatre of abstract frescos up in the sky catches in his imagination an instant time and inhabits a palpable space. Over the years, the child grows and the sonorous canvas from the cloud capped sky changes. The illusions transform. It is now the wilderness of tormented forestland or bucolic serenity of the meandering mountain paths or the dusty village roads where the hypnotic commentary gets expanded unraveling fantasy of nature in different forms and different expressions. Here now the discarded and somehow unearthly roots of bamboo thickets or a huge stump of a fallen tree emerge virtually from nowhere to tell a strange story. Hidden beneath their apparent complexity and seemingly meaningless forms lie magical expressions that the cloudy sky once left half finished for the child. Dilip Ray, a senior police officer, now Commander of a battalion of elite striking force Tripura State Rifles, picks them up all--these bamboo or tree roots or the pieces of lonely woods in their natural form. And with a simple chisel, a saw or a knife, and having been completely absorbed in his dream, he slowly unfolds the hidden forms infusing strange fantasies into them. As he takes us down the lanes of wonderland of amazing figurative sculptures curved out from those roots or wooden chunk- like the child Alice we encounter extraordinary and awesome figures that are often humane, often monstrous, often funny and often innocent. Yet all are intense and abstract. Surrealist. Each of them is independent, happy; self contained and illusionistic in effect, as if designed to stimulate the admirer’s own childhood fantasy. All exude an aesthetic delight of a different kind. The experience is compelling and perplexing almost like an unfinished but beautiful fairy tales where we are left to our own imagination, where we are allowed to have our own space and time to complete the unfinished, unelaborated-- in our exalted contemplation. DILIP RAY : AN ARTIST OF A DIFFERENT KIND. ( His pic is also given below with some of his creations. Please check all pics) A professional police man Dilip’s tryst with arts began in his early days in Belonia, South Tripura. Like many of his school mates he began with fine arts and often thought of becoming a professional painter. But as the life went ahead, ultimately he studied science though he never left aside his brush, color and easel. After graduation Dilip joined Tripura Government service as Research officer in Planning and Coordination Department. And then in 1998 he joined the Tripura Police Service. Now, he is Commandant of 10th Battalion Tripura State Rifles. Though ‘fine arts’ was his first love and he continued with painting off and on, soon his focus shifted. Dilip started finding beauties of Nature in unlikely places- by the road side, behind the jhum tong or somewhere in the midst of deep and dark jungle. His profession as a police officer also helped. He got an opportunity to travel across the state especially the rural and forested areas extensively and his encounters with the strange objects increased manifold. It was then he started collecting bamboo or tree roots and discarded and rotting tree stumps. At night or whenever time permitted, he would then chisel out figures – all in abstract and often surreal forms- from those roots and wooden pieces. All through his wife Krishna remained a constant inspiration for him. A simple look at his creations would make one thing clear: The artist worked with an intense feeling and spontaneous yet controlled manner. All his art objects exude not only magic and take one into a world of fantasy, but also give enough hint of an eternal happiness all around us. “Nature’s beauty is manifested everywhere in almost all objects. Sometimes poignant, sometimes subtle. I just seek to script the language for the hidden dreams. All in all, my creations one may find to some extent revelatory to childhood fascinations”, said the calm and quiet artist. He then added : “Fundamental difference between other art forms or sculpture and root crafts sculpture is – it is created by both Mother Nature and human. The nature first gave some peculiar or queer form to her creation and then a man’s own feeling and emotion come to play and an art object emerges. My contribution is actually about 30 per cent to the art form. The rest 70 of the aesthetic beauty is already handed down to us my Mother Nature only ” “Such root crafts or sculpture is not new but certainly not widely practiced at least in our state. Such art form first got wide acceptance as well as state’s sponsorship in ancient China during Sui and Tang dynasties as folk arts” he added. Dilip, who is involved in many other art related activities, also erected many sculptures –mostly designed by him in his work places. Self taught in his chosen field Dilip however is fully aware of his art works’ social utility and demand of contemporary developments. “I feel students and children should be given exposure to this form of art as it would not only help them see the hidden aesthetics in otherwise meaningless objects which are always available near the home and create a happy world for them and their elders, but also in broader perspective such creations would positively add to meaningful waste management”. In this exhibition more than 30 art objects- mostly root sculptures and wood creations would be displayed along with some of his paintings. Some of the displayed items carry the titles like ‘Ecstasy’, Dancing Couple, ‘The Life”, ‘Intensity’, ‘Vampire’, The Visitor, ‘Playmate’, ‘Awaiting’, ‘Alien’ etc. --------------------------------------------------------- THE EXHIBITION : “ROOTS” ……AUG 3,4 &-5, 2014 / AGARTALA PRESS CLUB INAUGURATION : By Hon’ble Chief MInister Shri Manik Sarkar TIME : 6 PM ( AUG 3, 2014). OTHER DAYS – 2.30 PM TO 8.30 PM Two eminent artists from Kolkata Shri Niranjan Pradhan and Shri Hiran Mitra will attend. Shri Mitra will inateract with students and others on Aug 4, 2014 from 2.30 pm. The exhibition is organised by artist Dilip Rays friends....( under the banner of East-Wind Communications) ALL ARE CORDIALLY INVITED.. Manas on behalf of artist Dilip and his friends. ( Pl enlarge the pics for better view . Comments and shares are solicited)
Posted on: Fri, 01 Aug 2014 04:04:23 +0000
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