Durga (The Warrior) by Roshan Bhandari

Painting silence, expression, moods are my key to the dreams, my way of perceiving positivity, my storytelling. Human expression is the most powerful form of communication we
have. We all remember the looks our mom and dad gave us when we did something wrong or when they are happy about us or the look on the face of the person in love. These looks are just a few of the powerful ways we can communicate with no words.

From the beginning, the process of transforming silence into expression struck me as magical. And, over the years, that magical process has had its way with me. Portraying human expression fills me with a sense of accomplishment and integrity, and has proven a most amenable vehicle for translating inner vision to outer reality.

I paint from the inside out. I work quite spontaneously, sometimes consciously employing both traditional and innovative techniques; my unconscious is the undisputed project manager.

The concrete, spontaneous, and well-planned nature of this work frees my imagination and provides many opportunities for happy accidents and grace to influence the finished product.

My work tends to focus on an emotional expect of people around me. Every time it varies from person to person, portraying their inner expression which is visible to their face mostly when they are silent gives strength to my subject. I feel accomplished whenever I paint subjects around me. Mostly the characters of my paintings are the people around me. My home, my Tole, Gully’s, Café, College cafeteria, etc are the place where I find all my characters. I sit with them, talk to them, I feel and I react with the brushes, colors, sketches and I end up with a complete composition. With all the responsibility people work hard every day, they try new things to achieve new heights, happiness, and smiles. But as they move farther they tend to breakdown. Those moments are very intense and powerful.

None of it was intentional – it all developed and evolved over time.

While I use a variety of materials and processes in each project my methodology is consistent. Although there may not always be material similarities between the different projects they are linked by recurring formal concerns and through the subject matter. The subject matter of each body of work determines the materials and the forms of the work.

Each project often consists of multiple works, often in a range of different media, grouped around specific themes and meanings. During research and production, new areas of interest arise and lead to the next body of work.