24 APRIL 2022

CASHMIRA PRAMANIK / ARTIST /

Cashmira Pramanik tries to picture the captivating power of the visual medium and the everlasting impacts that it leaves on the minds of the artist as well as to others. /

I am from Bengal, India.

I was born in Kolaghat, a small rural town in Midnapur along the banks of river Rupnarayan where I lived till the age of five and then spent the rest of my childhood in the land of Tagore, at Shantiniketan.

I trained as an architect at IIT Roorkee, and then pursued post graduate studies in business and management at London Business School and at Stanford University.

Most of my career, I have worked in the UK in Data and Analytics space. I am passionate about empowering people, organizations and society through data driven decision making and process improvements.

During the course of my time in England, I got drawn towards visual storytelling and experimented with fine arts, photography and finally filmmaking.  So, in 2019, I pursued a six months filmmaking (directing) training at Met Film School London on full scholarship.

I have recently finished my Masters in Screenwriting at Birkbeck College, University of London.  

I have written and directed two short films till now, one of which (The Mute) has won recognition and awards at a number of international film festivals, and the other (Red Fountain) is in the final stages of post-production.  

I am currently working on my third short film (Angel Fleet) to be shot in the summer of this year.

My childhood paintings are the greatest souvenirs of my life.

My creative training started at the age of 5 under the renowned artist Suresh K. Nair whilst he was a very reputed student at Kala Bhavan, Visva Bharati University, Shantiniketan.

I still remember my first class with him.

 I was eagerly waiting for him, and the door knocked. My mum went to receive him as I sat like a well-behaved child with a few sheets of paper and some pencils. He walked in, brought out a box of watercolour, a palette and two brushes, one green and one red from his shoulder bag and asked me to draw anything I felt like with the watercolour set. As I took out a sheet and started drawing something with a pencil with the idea of filling up the shapes with colours later on, he intervened.  He opened the water colour box, squeezed out some lemon yellow into the palette and introduced me to the practice of sketching directly with the brush and colour. With him I stepped into a world of fun where there were no rules, where nothing can go wrong, where every hue, every brush stroke was an expression of my emotions, thoughts, feelings.

Every Wednesday, we would spend around three to four hours practising arts. At times he would take me to nearby neighbourhoods and villages to observe people and places. We would sit and draw to our hearts content. Another place we did frequent was the railway station. I fondly recollect my memories of walking along the railway platform holding his hand.  From time to time he brought me new surprises – ink and fountain pen, acrylic colours, various books on painters. The world of Da Vinci, Michaelangelo, Raphael, Rembrandt, Van Gogh, Van Eyck, Monet, Matisse, Gauguin, Cezzane, Pollock, Kandinsky empowered  me to be myself, and  live with vitality, love and kindness, and emboldened me to acknowledge and express my feelings of happiness, joy, sorrow and aches with equal vigour.

 While I was awestruck by the allegories, symbolism and mythological references in the classical paintings, I was equally fascinated by the transient nature of life captured in the impressionist paintings, and the internal workings of the human psyche as depicted in expressionist works.

I believe we need to cultivate arts, science and philosophy with equal emphasis to evolve as complete human beings and to live with empathy and compassion and contribute to society and to this planet.

•     Cashmira Pramanik