I am voicing the feelings of creatures that cannot express themselves

I am voicing the feelings of creatures that cannot express themselves

Artist Mrityunjay Mondal is all set to fight for the environment

    When artist Mrityunjay Mondal visited his village a few years back, he saw that all open spaces had been removed to make way for new concrete constructions. All the large tress had been chopped off mercilessly and nature had been compromised to meet the needs of humans. This stirred something in the artist’s heart. “I wanted the society to wake up to the feelings of the animals, birds and other creatures and decided to do this show,” he says.
    When an artist wants to talk about environment, he does it subtly through the only form of expression known to him — art. Bright colours, unusual forms and concepts that are out of the box are used. Mondal’s latest collection, Journey, he says, is all about the life-cycle of living beings. “Man is cutting trees to make space for his home and buildings. But he does not re-plant these trees and hence there is an imbalance in the eco-system. The animals are losing their natural space. In my work, I am voicing the feelings and opinions of creatures that cannot express themselves.”
    For Mondal, man is the creature who wants to control everything and man’s drive for urbanisation is slowly destroying other creatures. The artist feels for these animals, birds and fish and he wants to express how these mute creatures feel, through his art. In his works, we can see a lot of these creatures with human heads. He explains, “These creatures have emotions and would like to be happy with their space and surroundings. So, I have used half animal and half human figures as a metaphor to show that even these creatures would like to have their own space, family and surroundings and they don’t mind coexisting with humans.”
    In one of his paintings, Mondal has shown a boat which depicts the Noah’s Ark. He says, “Humans as well as other creatures went aboard the ark, as all were needed for earth’s existence. But today, we abuse this right of theirs.”
    The artist has used bright colours to portray positivity. He says, “I have used bright colours to represent the beautiful thoughts of these lovely creatures. Since these creatures cannot speak for themselves, I have shown them in bright and warm colours to appeal to the society to give these lovely creatures the space they need.” A heart-warming journey through Mrityunjay Mondal’s eye.
    Mrityunjay Mondal’s works can be viewed at India Fine Art, Tardeo, till December 21.