Brushing the Bruises

“One who does not understand the anatomy of a woman, is far far behind those who do,” opines Assamese painter and poet Partha Sarthi Dutta. Most of his paintings in an art exhibition in All India Fine Arts and Crafts society (AIFACS) overtly express his deep understanding of a woman, and his concerns about their omnipresent suppression. “A woman is multifaceted. With them, what one sees is not what is necessarily true. It is the depth of their psyche and emotions that appeal to me.”

The three prominent dimensions of the exhibited paintings are agony of womenfolk, political criticism, and landscapes. “A woman is the giver of life. Her importance, though inextricable in our lives, is scarcely acknowledged.” In some of his paintings, he goes on to compare women with fishes and balloons, signifying the continuity in life.

The paintings depicting political criticism unambiguously arise out of his disillusionment in war and bloodshed essentially taking place in Assam, also portraying his appurtenance with his soil. The material he uses for his collages are headlines from Assamese and Bengali newspapers, burnt jute, and bandage, and are reminiscent of the repeated terrorist attacks in the country and the government’s failure in curbing them, which have left irredeemable sorrow in his heart. Although his paintings are a surreal portrayal of hard realism, he maintains that he is not a pessimist. “The critics like to disagree, but realism is not always pessimistic. I am still hopeful that someday, things would change.”

Dutta’s paintings predominantly include shades of blue, green and yellow, nostalgic of Assam. “In Assam, one finds these colours everywhere. The clear blue of the sky. The greenery giving an essence of tranquillity. The greenery which has been brutally shattered amidst the violent streak enormously emerging in the current arena.” Interestingly, most of his paintings which involve heave craftwork have been finished in one sitting taking approximately three hours.

Partha Sarthi is a government school teacher by profession. To him, poetry and art are a medium of expressing his innermost thoughts. He has been exhibiting his paintings since 1992, and has had five anthologies of his poems. He is not one of those who would violent retaliate to such abhorrent catastrophes. He’d rather keep silent, and allow his nibs and brushes do the talking