Chaudhuri, Bivas

A digital archive of Asian/Asian American contemporary art history

Male

"As I come from the East, my work does not fit into the framework of Western Art. I am living in contemporary society; but, Indian Contemporary Art started only 43 years ago. For more than five thousand years prior to this, people from the Indian sub-continent were involved in sculpture and painting. History does not develop as line; rather it is circular. Things repeat in different times and spaces in many ways.

"New always is related to old. For example mathematically 2+2 becomes a new figure, 4. The 4+2 becomes 6, yet another figure, but one 2, which was added to one 4, came from the past. America is a new country for me. I was living in traditional culture so I have seen old as well as new.

"I graduated from an Indian government college of [art] and craft, where I had majored in Western Painting. I learned how to draw and paint from nature and life, with all kinds of media. Now, when I make compositions, that experience and knowledge works as a reference in my subconscious mind. Humans stand between an immense cosmos and an unfathomable universe within. The human mind is nature's greatest resource. It is intelligence and heart combined, and it is capable of deep vision. The artist's mind creates in a continuous effort to see imagery. When successful, the created image links his personal life and the nature of things. Competition and ambition does not drive me to paint. Rather, it is human existence and [its] innate urge to create. Through the creative process, the self can attain that which surpasses pleasure.

"In order to build the image, everything must participate. [Concept] and material technique - each one of these has certain roles to play. Art is a product, in the sense that it is a meaningful image built out of this extraordinary participation of things.

"There are no words that can describe the appreciation of visual painting. Traditionally, there was no disclosure of the factors and elements participate in the process of making and enjoying painting.

"We are a part of this manifestation of nature; full of mystery and wonder [within] ourselves, that is generated in proportion to our creative energy. [This] is true in my sense. My honest struggle is to fulfill new values in order to gain a vision of truth. As human beings, we have the achieve and create music, art, society, economic systems, and political systems on this earth, which are perfected according to our changing visions.

"One of my goals has been to blend some of the concepts and techniques of Western Painting into Indian Painting and vice-versa." --Bivas Chaudhuri, Artist Statement