State Of The Art

If the purpose of art is to scrape the dust of daily life off our souls, the Burman-Maity home must be spotlessly clean.

- Shampa Dhar-Kamath

The world is a canvas to the Burman-Maity imagination. Two throw colour at it; the third plucks images out of it. No dream is too unwieldy for this creative family of three, no idea is too small to act upon. Even when their eye sees the samething, all three—the two artists and their photographer son—reframe the experience in their own terms, resulting in unique, nuanced works of art across media.

Chalk and cheese come frequently to mind as Jayasri Burman and Paresh Maity talk about their working styles. Of the two, Paresh—the painter-sculptor-photographer-film-maker with almost 80 shows to his credit—is the more disciplined. His work schedule follows the sun as it arcs across the sky. “For me, natural light is very significant. Which is why I like to get up early and sleep at 10. I like to stay with nature; to observe the difference between morning and evening light.” Paresh chooses music to be his only companion when he works. “Where I paint is my temple. I don’t like anyone there when I communicate with my painting; as it tells me what it needs.”

Son Rid Burman admires this work ethic and hopes that some of it has rubbed off on him. “Light is a huge influence in my work too, but that goes with the territory of being a photographer. What I’ve really learnt from my father is commitment to one’s skill and ideation, and the integrity you want to bring to every project you undertake,” he says.