Art is meditation in action, says painter Golak Khandual

Architect and artist Golak Khandual’s recent body of ink, conte and watercolours is an example of a mix of different facets of society and lifestyle and includes reproductions of Kathakali dancers. Khandual, who is also a photographer, is currently displaying over 40 of his best paintings that depict various facets of human life celebrating womanhood and freedom. He has titled it ‘Drawings from my Diary’ -- which is literally what it is -- a reproduction of images that the Orissa-born artist manages to scribble in his diary, often in the dark, the cusp of time between dawn and daylight, which “arouses his inner conscience.” “My life as a nomadic architect does not allow me to do either easel paintings or think of conceptual art of consequences. I have to make do with hoarding images in my little diaries and working from them as and when I have a window of opportunity,” says the 57 year old. Drawing in the dark, he says is “mapping the world with an alternate sense of delineation.” “Drawing in the absence of light and drawing blindfolded for me both are about slowing down. This process is like a riyaz and helps me to hang on to my dreams and stitch my days together. “Above all, this is meditation in action for me,” he says. The architect-artist feels that his work is more physical than cerebral and so he draws with broken crayons sometimes using his left hand and sometimes using his feet too, always experimenting with materials and methods of drawing. “Because physicality is both an issue and incentive for me, I do sometimes resort to drawing with my feet. At times I use my left hand instead of right and at most of the times I use broken crayons and just scribble them on paper and see various textures appearing to which I give an outline and various forms and figures appear,” he says. Khandual says he practices architecture in the shoes of an installation artist. “To my sudden delight I realised one fine day that I practice architecture in the shoes of an installation artist. I keep form and function in mind and work with a fanatic intention not to waste even a blade of grass,” says Khandual. His figures are mostly inspired by real life characters from the real world in some strange subliminal way. “What I find fascinating is the fact that in the sea of heads and bodies in this mega metropolis, I often bump into characters who seem to have walked straight out of my drawings as if to ambush me,” says Khandual. In his works are a series of Kathakali dancers. “When I used to work as a makeup artist, I saw these dancers and my fascination for the dance form made me look at the postures keenly and draw each of those postures on paper. I think those paintings are my biggest hit,” he says. Khandual, who grew up on the banks of a river in coastal Odisha studied at the School of Planning and Architecture here and counts among others noted author Arundhati Roy as a classmate. “Arundhati and I share a wonderful friendship. She takes away most of the paintings I draw. We have been college buddies and have performed in the same group. She has a strong aesthetic sense and usually understands those paintings of mine which very few people do. We have been like family.” He had previously been a make up designer for a feature film starring Roy. Meanwhile, one of his pieces in his current show is titled ‘Birdies’ and depicts the plight of people whose dreams have been caged and they are unable to come out of that cage and break societal norms. “The intention of this show is also a critique against the notion we have ‘What will others think of us?’ So I have depicted the freedom from those caged emotions and celebrating the essence of being oneself in ‘Birdies’, he says. Some other works depict the freedom of women. “Why can’t women sit with their legs spread just like men. Why can’t they flaunt their underarm hair or why do they need be always thinking of what clothes they should wear? It has been decades since we got independence but we have still not given enough freedom to the women in our society”, says the artist. An interesting tid bit from his school going days says Khadual shaped his thinking. “Early in school we had to read a story “Who shall we plant trees for? It was about an old man who planted trees which to a younger man seemed to be a futile task. On being asked the elder replies, ‘Son we never plant trees for ourselves. We always do it for others.’” “That old man from my story became my grand hero.He made me look at the planet with a gardener’s eye, with a farmer’s passion,” says Khandual . Most of his artworks he says, reflects societal realities -- be it the condition of women or encroachment of land and urbanisation of cities or even the endangering of birds and other species. “I see them with heart and draw them with soul,” he says.