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Melting Pot Various elements of religion, folk motifs and architecture come together in Mustak’s art

Plants and flowers lending balance to the composition and also suggesting prosperity. Gwalior-based artist Mustak Khan Chowdhury’s canvases are brimming with vibrancy.

Mustak continues to be fascinated by religion. “If religion has benefited many, then many have suffered on its account too,” says Mustak, who heads the art faculty at the elite Scindia School.

According to traditional Muslim belief, the Prophet ascended to heaven on a horse-like creature called “Burraq”.

In one of his pen and ink works the artist has depicted the flying horse with a woman’s head and peacock’s tail, and a woman’s face below the horse.

“The woman is shown dreaming of going to heaven. The painting portrays that everyone wants to go to heaven,” explains Mustak.

In the work “Lady on a horse” in mixed media, the artist has merged Hindu and Muslim iconography. The goddess Durga is portrayed sitting on a Burraq. “The idea is to show the cultural exchange that has happened between the two religions over the years. The lotus is a Hindu motif and in Bengal I have seen so many mosques using the lotus motif,” says the artist who has a masters degree in fine arts from Kala Bhavan, Shantiniketan.

Religion has always found space on Mustak’s canvas, drawing inspiration from the Gujarat riots and the Shah Bano case.

Mustak’s works are slowly moving from the realistic to the surrealist. “The stress is more on aesthetics. They are no more subject heavy,” he says. The geometrical shapes on the canvas are influenced by Gwalior fort. “An artist takes a lot from his surroundings. I see the fort everyday and that’s how the images have come in. Also I am influenced by cubist movement,” says Mustak. Folk motifs in the form of fish and the way eyes have been painted are also visible.

There are acrylics as well but it is Mustak’s mixed media work with pen, watercolours and crayons that are the most impressive.

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