Artist Statement My practice begins intuitively — with colour, gesture, and instinct — before it resolves into imagined, symbolic form. I am drawn to the space where the human figure, usually female, meets something older and wilder than herself: a crocodile, a horse, a moon, a mountain of red fruit. These are not illustrations of a story but psychological terrain — instinct, desire, guardianship, and surrender rendered as dreamlike, floating compositions that move between realism and abstraction. Mythology and folk narrative run underneath this work. My MFA research on the representation of women in Kalighat Pat Painting shaped how I think about the female figure inside inherited visual traditions — and continues to surface in the recurring motifs of serpents, animal-hybrid presences, and protective or devouring creatures across my canvases. A parallel, quieter body of work returns to childhood: fragments of play, cloth, and half-remembered domestic objects, reimagined through the lens of adult memory. I do not set out to resolve these tensions. My paintings are left as a space where the seen and the unseen continue to converse — where feminine energy, instinct, and transformation sit beside one another without needing to agree. PROPOSED DIRECTION FOR DOCTORAL RESEARCH Building on my MFA study of women’s representation in Kalighat Pat Painting, I intend to extend this research into a practice-based doctoral inquiry into how traditional Bengali narrative painting can be reinterpreted through contemporary surrealist and symbolic-feminine approaches — tracing instinct, hybrid embodiment, and cultural memory from folk narrative traditions into present-day studio practice. [Note to Soma: replace with your specific research question, methodology, and target department before sending to any university.]
Painter · Researcher · Educator Visual artist specialising in painting, with expertise in acrylics, mixed media, conceptual art, installation, wall painting, batik and dyeing, and traditional road Alpona. Based in West Bengal, my practice explores instinct, feminine mythology, memory, and cultural transformation, blending traditional narratives with contemporary expression. EDUCATION — Bachelor of Education (B.Ed) — 2026–2028 (pursuing) — Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A) — Painting — Tripura University, 2022–2024 · Gold Medalist — Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A) — Painting — Kokrajhar Music & Fine Art College, Guwahati University, Assam, 2018–2022 — Diploma in Visual Art — M.S.M.E–AI Institute, Kolkata (NSOU), 2020–2021 — Bachelor of Arts (B.A) — Bengali (Honours) — North Bengal University, 2013–2016
