Sisir Sahana

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A professor in Ceramics & Glass, Department of Design in Kala-Bhavana, Visva-Bharati, Santiniketan, Sisir Sahana graduated in painting from Kala-Bhavan and in Stained Glass from Central St. Martin’s College of Art & Design, London. He has exhibited widely and is the recipient of the Commonwealth Scholarship, Junior and Senior Research Fellowship in the field of Glass Painting from Department of Culture, Government of India. He was invited on a Fellowship/Residency program by Creative Glass Center of America, USA in 2000 and participated in a residency programme with the Pittsburgh Glass Center, USA. Sisir is also a documentary filmmaker on the life of artists; ‘Maati-O-Manush’ received a Jury Award from The New Hope Film Festival, USA in 2010. His other films include ‘Suryaprakash: A Journey through Life and Art’; ‘Nandan Mela, Kala-Bhavana and Santiniketan – A Collective Spirit’ and ‘Visva-bharati’, on the occasion of 100th year of Visva-Bharati.

Sisir lives and works in Shanti Niketan.

‘’I saw many objects/artifacts made in glass in the various museums that have captivated my mind and inner soul. I have been inspired by a Roman vase in glass made about 2000 years ago, collection of the Corning Museum of Glass. We have witnessed many ancient artworks of figurative images made in different kinds of materials and mediums. Few pots or vases visually look like women figures. The vase gets transformed into a woman/mother in my vision and inner thinking.

For me, women are the treasure vessels. I visualize immense growth in the core of the body. The growth comes as various metaphors and represents life within. The vase becomes a living thing perceptually and within the woman figure, there are natural motifs as metaphors. Therefore, I have followed the form of vase and transformed it into an artwork signifying human nature or a genesis in glass of nature.’’ Sisir Sahana

My art reflects my presence in the society where I live in, where the people strive for peace and happiness, strength and harmony in ever changing course of time. To express that observation and conversation, I use various mediums and visual/performance based media as tools. Often, I admire the nature that is a rich constituent of human beings, animals, birds, insects, trees, plants. They work as metaphors for me. Above all, human beings play a comprehensive and constructive role to deliver the dialogue between the material and concept.

When the medium is glass, I conceptualize my method and material that make a relation with the transparency and translucency of the nature of glass. I emphasize less on the technical aspect of material perfection/skills and more on the subjective essence within the artworks.