Amitava Dhar

I try to address the unseen and discover the uncanny through my works. As someone who finds this risky confrontation with the unfamiliar comforting and thrilling in equal measure, I like to jump into the abyss of the unknown again and again.

I like the stage, but from behind, from the darkness of the backdrop. The stage often features in my artworks where the predator and the victim along with the onlooker come together to perform. This entire setup becomes the core matrix of most of my canvases.

Violence makes its presence felt, often triggered by childhood memories and contemporary experiences. For instance, a bunch of cats had hunted and killed my beautiful pigeons. And this act of violence, its memory, perhaps coloured and distorted by imagination, has held on to me like a childhood-trauma, influencing my work even today.