Artistic sojourns of Bhutan

The medium of watercolour is definitely challenging and daring to work with and the same on rice paper can be quite a task. Artist Prashant Prabhu decided to experiment with it, and it is now his forte.

On an artistic journey to Bhutan, Prashant was stranded there due to the bad weather.  Itching to paint, he bought rice paper which is locally available in the market and started painting on it. He says, “I had carried enough paper (that he usually works on) for six days from Mumbai.

But I exhausted all of them and had to stay there for four more days. So I bought a few rice papers and started painting on the same and realised that though it is rather challenging to work on, it’s different and exciting.” He adds, “After some trial and error, I got a grasp over this paper. This paper absorbs water instantly and hence one has to be extremely quick while working on this one, especially with water colours.”

And this unique technique that Prashant has developed seems to have impressed art lovers Harsh Goenka and Dilip Piramal. Prashant claims, “When I showed my works to Harsh Goenka, he asked me to stick to this style as this would be my signature style. And Dilip Piramal has already bought one of my works three months ago.”

Prashant visited Bhutan in May and quite a few of his works are painted on the spot and the others capture those scenes that he saw while meditating or in his dreams.

Prashant’s works can be seen at the Nehru centre from January 26 onwards.