Coffee and Ink
Works on paper and Canvas
Solo Show at Tvak Residential art studios.
30th and 31st May - 2015 .
27 sunrise park, 6-8: pm
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| Scholarship artist at TVAK studios. |
Jeet Pandya
Deviba Wala : Tell us about the medium of choice and why do you prefer it?
Jeet Pandya : I began with coffee since I was drawn to it’s colour. because it is easily accessible and aesthetically it mutates into various shades of brown. It was sort of an experiment and it turned out to be good. Coffee gives the painting an overall sepia effect which is nostalgic to me . I began mixing coffee with ink and varying amounts of water to achieve different shades. I enjoy the challenging and stubborn unpredictability of this medium.
DW: What jobs have you done other than being an artist?
JP: I used to study engineering before I finally gathered up some courage and decided to embark on this artistic journey. There have been no other jobs. An Artist is all I am.
DW: Is the artistic life interesting? What do you do to keep it that way?
I certainly think it is interesting. if I can somehow make a log entry of all the things I do which isn’t possible because there isn’t much and there isn’t any timing to any of it which makes it better rather than following a perfect schedule.
To keep it that way I often try not to fall prey to the nightly betrayal that sleep has to offer and just work at night.
DW: What do you dislike about the art world?
JP: There isn’t anything to dislike about the art world. I only wish the art education here be more flexible or rather open for anyone to seek education in fine arts and related fields.
DW: What research do you do?
JP: I often read about artists from the past, about their works and lives. There is a lot to learn from it, may it be in the form of documentaries or books or articles on the internet. It has all been quite helpful to me.
DW: What makes you angry?
JP: Noise that is violent to the ears on a silent night. walls that just happen to carry on such sounds.
DW: Name something you love and why?
JP: I love how human it is for us to be and that there is so much to feel and express the same. I also love the sofa at the studio, how I can sit and work by it as it has been since months. It is always there even if the furniture around keeps getting moved. I worry about it when it rains and more about what would happen to it when I leave the studio.
DW: Name something you don’t love and why?
JP: I don’t think there is anything at all to not love. When you are like a little marker flag out in the huge arctic, would you not love the snowflakes brushing by? Or the heavy wind at times or the ice beneath which is always going to be there?
DW: What is your dream project?
JP: My dream project is to be in a huge white room full of artists and get to paint all the walls and go crazy with it. A grand collaboration of sorts.
DW: How do you know who will be the subject of your work?
JP: A simple glance or a voice or a story or even if I read something that makes me feel strongly may it be anything, just the realization of it makes me paint it and then there is the desire to observe figures and objects and to portray them, to give such forms shape, colour and value.
DW:Professionally, what’s your goal?
JP:I would like to generate enough income so I can buy more canvases and paper and ink and colours to go on and to sustain myself.
DW: What wouldn’t you do without?
JP : Tea mostly.
DW: What’s integral to the work of an artist?
JP:To be able to harness joy from all the work that one does. To be able to constantly learn.
DW: What has been a seminal experience?
JP: The transition from coffee and ink to colours, from paper to canvas. It has had quite an effect on how I used to paint earlier. I was hesitant about using colours earlier but after I joined the studio a whole new world opened up for me in the sense of technique, different mediums as well as life experiences.
JP:To be able to harness joy from all the work that one does. To be able to constantly learn.
DW: What has been a seminal experience?
JP: The transition from coffee and ink to colours, from paper to canvas. It has had quite an effect on how I used to paint earlier. I was hesitant about using colours earlier but after I joined the studio a whole new world opened up for me in the sense of technique, different mediums as well as life experiences.
DW: Favourite or most inspirational place?
JP :I still have the world to travel yet. I feel the place of work gives me everything I need, inspiration as well. I climb a series of steps to access my working area every day at the studio, and the stairs I refer it to as the stairway to colours. I grew up near the sea, I always have this longing to be there listening to it just as the sun is about to set no matter how far I am from the sea.
DW: What is the best piece of advice you’ve been given?
JP: I was told to paint and leave everything else aside. To stay alive and not burn myself completely. And I realized all I ever needed were that words.
DW: How has been your experience as an artist at Tvak?
JP: Like that of an infant learning to colour, talk and listen and meet new and interesting people, all at the same time.
