B. 1982
As a young boy of an interior village, Hari Sadhan Dey used to draw the colourful open air drama of his sea side village at Kakdwip, West Bengal. Religious and social rituals, shrines of village, gathering of famous Gangasagar Mela cast a spell on him. Hari Sadhan Dey has travelled a long-way since his student life with genuine effort to capture the essence of life in common people and was fascinated by the beauty of nature, Indian traditions and culture in an unadulterated mode. Thus he experienced life in its myriad form and beauty. Chiaroscuro of nature, human form, expression, emotion, feelings, nostalgic images of old Calcutta have always inspired him and taken an important place in his paintings, on which he is working continuously. In art, the visually perceived world can bring out the inner image or the idea of the figure, carried beyond the ordinary vision. The physical reflection of one’s inner self is reflected through the face. So the face with different expressions like peace, tranquility, innocence is always a great source of inspiration for his paintings. Also, the influence of traditional Indian colour, aesthetic and reflection of Hindu spiritual thought inspired him. He likes to work with themes close to the masses in rural and folk societies. His paintings are not situational narrative ones but are steeped in his own visual language and transferred directly onto his canvas. The detailed process and technique of his painting has desired possibilities to offer an aesthetic pleasure, spiritual thoughts and a searing sensation about his own land to its viewer. In relation to the increasing impact of Western civilization on our culture his work suggests love for tradition and rediscovering our own roots. Hari Sadhan Dey lives and works in Kolkata.
