This story is from July 25, 2021

Covid pandemic unlocks the artist in stay-at-home Kolkata residents

The pandemic has prompted many to explore art and unlock their creative potential, often with stunning results. Locked inside their houses for over a year, people from varied backgrounds have fallen back on painting and illustrations that have provided emotional succour to them in these difficult and stifling times.
Covid pandemic unlocks the artist in stay-at-home Kolkata residents
An illustration by Sarmistha Paul.
KOLKATA: The pandemic has prompted many to explore art and unlock their creative potential, often with stunning results. Locked inside their houses for over a year, people from varied backgrounds have fallen back on painting and illustrations that have provided emotional succour to them in these difficult and stifling times.
Forty-five-year-old Rituparno Basu, an English teacher of a government school, has been sketching kids restricted to an indoor life across the world.
His drawings include that of a child with a grandmother enjoying a movie on a laptop at a drawing room in Finland; a little rock star from Australia crooning alone in bedroom as if he is performing at the school fest and children enjoying at an attic of a house in Italy with a telescope.
emotional

“Children from all over the world, abruptly cut off from all outdoors, find it hard to battle boredom. But in their own unique ways, they have fought back. The present adversity is not without its brighter side, though. It’s time to take a look around them and see things hitherto unnoticed,” said Basu.
Second-year BCA student Sharmishtha Pal discovered digital art through mobile apps during the lockdown months last year. Her recent digital illustration series portrays dreams with her imaginary lover and her pet cat Tingu in an indoor setting.
She says, “Mobile drawing connects realism with surrealism. I try to merge my dreams, moods and vibes with everyday life through my art that people can relate to.” She uses fingers on the mobile screen to make the illustrations which takes two hours to 2 days to complete.

Suvomoy Mitra, 56, a successful commercial photographer was left jobless and ‘socially alienated’ when the lockdown began last year. Instead of lapsing into despair, he turned to his old passion —illustration.
Suvomoy’s illustrations are a direct reflection of the crisis. His pandemic time painting titled Alien Life, reflects a lonely soul desperately trying to keep warm in a single room amid chaos and uncertainty.
Delhi University post-graduate English student Ayan Dawn, 22, a resident of Uttarpara, has produced a 5 film of mixed art titled ‘Still, I Dream’ based on his experience when his friend's father died of Covid.His work was recently selected as one of the top 5 nominees in the Experimental Filmmaking category at Isolation Film Festival (IFF) 2021 in Cheshire, UK.
NRS Medical College intern Atasi Kirtania, 24, took to mobile app illustrations due to unavailability of painting material during the 2020 lockdown. “The pandemic motivated me to try digital,” Atasi added.
Renowned visual artist Bhabatosh Sutar is excited about the new trend and believes that art flourishes the most during crisis. “I came up with several new creations during this pandemic,” he said.
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