Contemporary Artist
India
When one looks at Anil Kumar's
paintings they are hit by a sense of awe that can't be worded Filled with
textures, filters, patterns and digital techniques, these mixed media works
speak a thousand words and keep silent at the same time, leaving a deep
impression on the viewer.
The color heavy works are done on limited edition canvas and regale fantastic stories, explore hidden emotions and prod one's consciousness to think beyond an expression of the numerous thoughts that cross the painter's mind and reference to the material world each painting is unique despite the familiar artistic technique
Anil says his works are his ways of finding himself and reflecting on his own psyche. "I'm searching for myself through art. I translate an understanding of the world and my experiences into my works. While some use song and dance to express themselves, I paint to express my love for life"
He takes photographs and other references to create a merger between acrylic paint and digital art. His subjects include festivals, monuments, celebrities and more, but he doesn't replicate them as they are. Instead, he gives them a touch of his hands and adds beauty to even the most common of pictures. "I am also a researching a way to facilitate the mood of the mind onto the canvas using principles of psychiatry, ancient meditation techniques, religion, and geometry" explain Anil.
Since he was young, he has been absorbing his surroundings into him, which led to his first painting. "I painted a picture which projected the effects of war on a child. One half had a child playing with crackers in a vivid festive atmosphere and the other half showed tankers blowing up homes and a line of refugees looking for shelter."
World politics heavily influenced Anil and as a child, he'd look up war photographs in magazines that his father got for him. Now he also draws from philosophical ideas of Tao, Buddha, Kalil Gibran, Lao Tzu and more.
His first choice of profession wasn't always an artist "I thought I'd get a government job or start a business since I had an aptitude for social sciences. I don't know what happened, but later on I didn't want to live a monotonous life with so many constraints, I had a strong feeling that the world could heal through the arts so when I took up fine arts it was a liberating feeling"
Throwing aside restraints Anil doesn't believe in themes or fixed styles. "We draw our own contours and we can come out of them as well, there is a difference between coming to a conclusion and being on a fixed path, which can get monotonous"
Over the years, he has gone from painting only nature and faces to philosophical. Talking about the artistic process, he says, "One can see a pattern in my approach, even in the random ideas that I stew over which are eventually given some form"
There is a never an end to learning as he continuously experiments with new techniques. This, he thinks, is what pushes him to do his best.
