I am from a rural village Chilika, in Odisha, from a farming community. My works have always been influenced by the social and ecological realities surrounding me from the formative years of my college. I have been addressing the issues of social disparities and power structures in the farming sector and concern for conflict and change in the rural environment. My early inspiration comes from the ‘Bhaga Chashi Andolan’– a 1953 peasant movement in rural Odisha led by my grandfather Dr. Nrusingha Samantasinghar. The killing of a poor farmer named Sania triggered this movement. The land owners had long been depriving the farmers of the wages and the profits earned from agricultural production. I want to create a visual dialogue that aims to work with the politics of sustainability, and my philosophy is based on the spirit of compassion and understanding.

Nowadays, I have been addressing such issues of the ecology and conflicts of migration. I have been always influenced by Chilika lake next door, here migration is a gamble, and birds and fishes have to deal with all kindsof dangers on the way – from bad weather and hungry predators to exhaustion and starvation.

I metaphorically introduce certain imagery in my paintings to address these issues. I work in multimedia merging such realities with surrealist imageries in order to lend a new voice to these issues. In my process of drawing/painting/installations, I often experiment with materials and surfaces by incorporating organic materials such as tealeaves or smoke burns, paper pulp, and neon lights in my images. I have also been experimenting with text-based installations recently.

Living with social constraints can be restrictive and tiring, but they push me towards a deeper understanding and humanity. I engage with my rural context and the history of nature to make it visible through my paintings and installations.