Restless fantasy. Drawing

Samya Raha is my social identity. On 23 July 1991, I born in Berhampore, a small city in the historical district of Murshidabad, WestBengal in INDIA. My practice of image-making is deeply rooted in human interactions with the materialized society. Trained as a sculptor, I am invested in exploring materials and the way they transform into objects. Drawing on my experiences, I propose “objects” are a result of our concerns; the human urge to express transforms an idea into an entity. The moment we try to establish our thoughts or imaginations in the real world through a material, we objectify them into a new form of reality. American thinker, Charles Sanders Peirce describes an “object” as “anything that we can think or talk about.” In harmony with this idea, I perceive an “object” through its cycle of transformations. This transforming nature of elements and thoughts around us is reflected inherently in the practices of human society which provokes me to construct a visual language, turning it into drawing, paintings and more expertly - sculptures. I have been working with Paper Mache for its ability to transform. The form of my artworks has been amalgamated between two shapes, which are organic and geometric. Materialized society has sustained those shapes through the entity. While working extensively with Paper Mache (which I use to construct mostly tree dimensional forms), the process of its making allows me to introspect on this idea of transformation. This historically significant material has evidenced continuous changes in its journey from the craft workshops to the global market. A thorough understanding of this medium made me realize the characteristic & transforming qualities of paper, to which I can resonate by drawing parallels between Paper Mache and my image-making. The practice of drawing has also been an inherent part of my work. It helps me construct a solid formation to my thought process & pictorially cultivates my ideas. Graphite, Watercolor, Ink and Pen are mediums that I use to draw and paint. Those mediums have a manipulative character that also incorporates with my practice.