"Can you see Buddha?" C Chandrashekara questions as he holds up his artwork, 'The Impressions X', a certain distance away, hinting at a shape the viewer should typically be able to see.
I squint at the image, trying to break free of a preconceived image I hold in my head, trying to visualise, instead, something far more flexible. This picture, however, is a little over my head. My linear thinking ways do not allow me to expand my spatial perspective; the artist himself chuckles as he watches my struggling gaze and attempts to help me cull it out.
I ask him to trace back his first experiments in the artistic arena, to which he recounts days from his childhood, sketching and painting on occasions such as Saraswathi puja. He hands me a photocopy of an earlier published article, where he's revealed days spent sketching the forms of Ganesha and Hanuman, the gods whose forms he "recreated with charcoal and chalk on any available surface."
Academics didn't hold his interest as much as art, and so, he opted for an art education after high school at the Ken School of Arts in Bangalore. He's painted a rather intimidating profile indeed, for, he holds a diploma in drawing and painting, followed by an Art Master designation at the Ken School of Arts, and even a PG diploma in graphic print making from Shantiniketan in West Bengal. But this isn't half as awe-inspiring as his many awards, the most notable being the Karnataka Rajyothsava Award in 1999.
As I scroll through his numerous works of art, what strikes me the most is his mastery over different media. It's clear from the range of his work that here's a man who has evolved with time and skill, an artist who has taken many technological developments that have occurred over time and adapted it to the nature of his work.
The mention of a camera, for instance, brings a smile to his eyes. "It's always something that has held my fancy," says Chandrashekara, adding that aside from photography, radio and its ability to relay voice from a distance has always fuelled his curiosity. Photography appears to have had a significant impact on his work, however, seeing how it might have influenced or enhanced the digital print technique he has employed in many of his artistic endeavours.
It is near impossible, though, that our works are completely original, meaning, without influence or inspiration. Almost all our work, our writings, paintings, thoughts too, perhaps, are influenced, inspired or shaped by other sources. So, what or who were his inspirations, I ask. He throws up a list of names in quick succession — his mentors R M Hadapad and Somanth Hore from his time as an art student, and van Gogh and Gauguin for their portrayals of visual experiences and excellent usage of pigments and colours, to name a few.
He even finds his inspiration from the forms that surround him, visualising and recreating pictorial possibilities from torn books and scrap objects lying around, and even exploring the textural effects of braille paper, the results of which can be seen in his 'Paradox' series.
Listening to Chandrashekara explain the meticulous, and sometimes abstract, thought that goes behind his work, I realise many of his inspirations stem from life and everything that fills it. "While a stone remains a stone for the common man, for an artist, the stone itself is precious material, a beautiful sculpture in the making," Chandrashekara explains as he enlightens me on the way of the artist. Life's course, he elaborates, has made an impact on his art, for, "the artist is one who creates based on his rich experiences."