I don’t paint to a theme: Artist Jatin Das

Artist Jatin Das has always been fascinated with the human form. The human predicament is the main concern of his work. Within the painting, the human figures seem to be speaking their own language.

“I only paint human forms. Sometimes it’s metaphoric, sometimes it’s poetic and other times it’s suggestive,” he says. In his latest exhibition of miniature-round paintings titled Hand-held Space, Das is showcasing a selection of his works created in the last ten years.What the figures sayThe human figures in Das’ paintings are most of the time devoid of clothes or any other embellishments. Some paintings (especially of women) have such a sensuous mood about them they make you think deeply about the beauty and the emotions of the subject. Jatin explains that the figures are bare because they were always bare right from the beginning.How it beginsHe never thinks of a concept before starting out on a painting. “I don’t paint to a theme. The theme takes shape automatically. As far as the inspiration for my paintings is concerned, I get it from whatever I am doing. It could even be a simple chat. Lot of people have this misconception that an artist’s work is a documentary of his/her life. It’s actually not so. A painting is beyond a painter,” he says.He’s not quite into BollywoodJatin never pressurised his daughter Nandita Das to pursue painting or any other particular career. She was free to make her choices when she chose films. However,  Jatin doesn’t like the fact that Bollywood has sort-of taken over all other art forms that exists in Mumbai today. He says, “Bollywood has become overtly commercial and swallowed Mumbai like a dragon. I think there was a time back in the 1960-70s when art forms such as theatre, painting and films stood at one level. But sadly today, Mumbai has become more like a provincial town and other than Bollywood, everything else has become a niche form of art. I think  when you compare Mumbai to other cities in India, it is still cosmopolitan in nature, but it’s also not what is used to be.”