One of the most engaging visual artists today, Samit Roy is on the verge of becoming a vanguard in a field ill-defined and unchallenged by the mainstream. He has already developed a large following among graphic artists, enthusiasts of graphic design, and students honing the fabric of their imaginations. Also noted for his poetry and short stories, Roy’s writing shows a defining intentionality and vital sensibility which serve to augment his visual art in powerful ways.For more visit his blog: http://samitroy.org
What and whom influences the direction of your work?
I'd say society to a great extent. I believe every social moment could be presented as an art and every art is a social moment. I feel it's my social context that influences the direction of my work.
Explain how concepts are chosen for your work?
Most of the time, my works are directly or indirectly inspired by social events. I pick up incidents from my surroundings and try to put contextual details on them. I eventually come up with a work that is based on common incidents.
Explain the process and goals of your work?
My works are always very demanding and take a long time to achieve the desired shape. This is probably because I enjoy the process as well. In most of the cases, I take a layered approach, where I come up with a first sketch that I sit on it for few weeks. Every time I return to the sketch, I try build another image, derived from the original, and then try to capture the new image within the same frame. I repeat this process multiple times, or until I feel the piece has reached its goals. For me, the goal of all my work is to capture a piece of socio-economic-political history—painted, of course, with the hues of my conscious context or perception.
Do you have a particular audience (or target group) in mind when creating a piece?
Not socially or economically or politically, perhaps. But, as I said, my works are always very demanding. They require a certain amount of effort from an audience. Saying that, my works are meant for people who are inquisitive, as well as equipped enough to devote extra attention to a piece of work.
What contemporary artists do you admire most?
No one specific, but usually I like the works of artists who feel responsible for a larger society in their works. Artists who talks about their time and try to capture a glimpse of that through their practices.
How has your own sense of "location" influenced your work?
Location influences the context. Location defines my interaction. Location patterns my subjects.
What are some of the challenges of cross-cultural exchange in the arts?
Language and context, mostly. The complex behaviors of modern languages are resulting in multiple context-specific and cultural meanings of a single word, which is almost impossible for person to understand who is not aware of that particular socio-cultural context. Limitations of the conventional translation processes also do take their toll.
What other interests do you have?
Apart from my work, I love aquariums and aqua-scapes. Too, I enjoy working on visual compositions with living splashes of colors, carves and contours, drawn with ever changing colors and lines and textures of live plants and other natural objects.
This interview was conducted by Alexander Jorgensen, Managing Editor.
