Swapna Biswas

Born on 26th January 1982 in the City of Kolkata, Swapna Biswas did her BFA in Painting from Santiniketan and currently she is a first year post graduate student in the same institution. Having spent a very normal childhood in a government quarters, Swapna’s creative talent was first recognized by her mother, who regularly brought colours and papers for Swapna.

Finding the psycho-social nuances of the individual self is what Swapna tries to attain through her paintings. Beauty and the beast literally infest her paintings. They share their selfhoods mutually. This interchangeability of the selfhood, mostly in inverted forms, is a method adopted by the artist to express her feminine sensibility. Some of her images are fragmented and mutilated, which, Swapna says is a way that she found out to represent the social insecurities felt and faced by a woman in their daily lives.

When   did she start working seriously?

I  started  working  seriously  from  the   middle  of  my  3rd  year, that is  from  2003.

Who   and what inspired Swapna in her graduate days?

My  teacher  Sanchayan  Ghosh  helped  me   a  lot  to  improve  my  sensibilities  in  art  practice.  My   inspiration  came  from  a  lot   of  things  like  atmosphere  of   Santiniketan,  the  beautiful  mural  paintings   by  Binodbehari Mukherjee, paintings  by  Ram   Kinkar  Baij,  K.G. Subramanyan , Jogen  Chowdhury , Bhupen  Khakkar and  the  great  masters  like   Dali,  Rene  Magritte,  Van  Gogh   &  Picasso.

What were her influences at that time and now?

I have no such direct influence in anytime.   I  used  to  observe  all   the  things  going  around  me   and  try  to  manipulate  it   with  my  psychological  state  of   mind,  creativity  and  sensation.

How  is helped  by  the  location   (Santiniketan)  of  her  study / stay ?

I  was   born  and  brought  up  in   the  lively  and  congested  city   of  Kolkata.  I had never seen a village and when I came here its openness astonished me.   For  the  first  time  I   could feel  the  love  with   nature,  its  abundant  greenery,  blue   sky,  red  mud  and  the   santhal's  with  their  very  simple  and  charming  livelihood  made  me   come  closer  to  the  earth.   Santiniketan  is  an  open  museum   with  huge  collection  of  Tagore's   painting,  poetry,  music,  drama  etc.   All  the  mural  paintings  by   Nandalal Bose , Binodbehari,  Somenath  Hore,  K.G. Subramaniyan   and  the  sculptures  of  Ram  Kinkar  which  are  all  specially   nature  sculptures  inspired  me  very   much.  I felt the movement, color, rhythm, strokes etc.  The  cultural  value,  aesthetic  sense  and   divinity of this place make  my  peace  loving   mind  enriched  to  think  in a  broader  perspective.

Her  works   resonate  with  the  anxieties  and   angst  of  a  young  woman   in  the  society  at  the   same  time  the  female  protagonists   seen  in  her  works  are   bold  enough  to  assert  their   personalities.  
My  works   represent  the  feminine  aspects  where   I  am  bold  enough  to  represent  myself  in  the  mirror   of  the  society . Here the human animal relationship plays an important role.   The  dual    characters , as  on the one  hand  the  animality  which  represents  the  vulgarity,  ferocity   and  sexuality and on the  other  its  humanity   with  all  tenderness , sensitivity and emotion dwell  side  by  side.  The  mysterious  nature   and  psychology  of  human  mind   have always astonished me and I  represent  it  in  a very personalized manner. The overlapping   of images, the transparency of   layers etc  serve  the  purpose.   The  images  in  my  canvas   are  placed at times  upside   down  and  some times  in  fragmented ways and it helps to represent the insecurity  within  the   space  which  always  dwells  in   the  feminine  psychology.  The  gestures   of  the  self  images  are   always  interacting  with  the  viewers   expressing  their  normal  physical  and   mental  necessities.

How does she assess her latest works?

I am searching for human psychology- its necessities, likes, dislikes, tenderness and vulgarity and representing myself as a part of that in response to the feminine aspects. I need lots of research to continue with my work.

What does she think about art and art market?

The term 'art' is allied with the artists creative output and is correlated purely with the aesthetic value which associates with the judgment of sentiments or taste. Its the way to communicate. It's nothing good or bad but a kind of invention.

The relationship between art and artist to the external world is an absolute necessity to deal with. Art is a business. Any artist who does not deal with art market does not survive as an artist   So there should be art market and now a days lots of art galleries are coming up. There are emotional attachment and purely financial investments. A good gallery or a good dealer is always a good partner.  We have a globalized art market now and the works of art being treated as any other trading commodity and has assumed economical significance. It is an investment in taste, pleasurable viewing and bonding with creativity that a buyer seeks in a work of an art he purchases.

Where do we see her in two years time?

I have not decided still. I will look after my better opportunity. Now I am going through a journey in the way of practicing art and I will extend it throughout my way.