Excavating The Soul With Abhijit Kumar Pathak

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Varanasi is the land of temples, art, music and culture. And if you hail from this holy city, you’re sure to have inherited some of its personality too. For artist Abhijit Kumar Pathak, who calls Varanasi home, his works connect the body and mind, and illustrate his interpretations of the world around him.

In his solo show Excavations, Pathak works with earthy colours, pigments, acrylics, fabric, charcoal, and colour pencils to create fragmented worlds on canvas. “Excavating my inner reservoir, reflecting, and opening windows of a hazy inner world are what my paintings are about,” says the artist.

5 Questions with the artist, Abhijit Kumar Pathak

1. Artistic Motivations “Nature, which is an objective reality. Nature does not imitate art; it devours it…I used to see different types of traditional paintings on walls, which used to fascinate me. These creations were magical, and motivated me to become an artist.”
2. Inspirations “Nature, and the world I live in. I was also initially drawn into abstraction by looking at Jackson Pollock’s drip paintings early in my career. I have always been fascinated by William De Cooning and greatly admire Anselm Kiefer, Antonio Tapies and C Y Tombly.”
3. On the wall at home “Anselm Kiefer”
4. Concerns that find a place in your art “Human relationships.”
5. If not an artist, you would be…“a musician.”

Excavations is on display at Gallery Beyond, Mumbai (130/132, First Floor, Great Western Building, Fort) until November 21, 2015.