Connection Between Artist And Audience Creates “Masterpieces” – Tarun Desai

Shimla, July 24 Ritanjali Hastir

Believing in the saying, “I am seeking. I am striving. I am in it with all my heart”, we have a fine young self-taught artist from the city who recently showcased his artwork in Gaiety, during his debut art exhibition.

Nomadic by nature yet a pahri by heart Tarun Desai feels, “My heart belongs to the mountains, and it is a matter of sheer luck that my grandfather came and settled in Shimla thereby giving me the privilege to be the third generation to enjoy the bounty of nature.”

Born in Delhi, and brought up in Shimla, Tarun completed his education in Schools including St. Edward’s and Dayanand Public School.  He did his B.S.C in I.T from Chandigarh in 2003 and his thirst for knowledge made him complete his  Master in Mass Communication and Journalism from H.P.U in 2016 .

“Sense of art runs in my genes as my mother is also a self-taught artist. Since my school days, I represented my school St. Edward’s in every Art competition that was organized in Shimla Town which always bought a sense of pride but after school, things changed and I developed more interest in cricket and participated in various tournaments held in Shimla and nearby places. I dedicated a lot of my time and energy to cricket and it became my passion, unfortunately back then options were less, and exposure in Shimla wasn’t there”, shares Tarun.

Agreeing with the statement that ‘Life imitates Art’, Tarun says, “I agree to that as that would happen pretty often. Even my life is a piece of art if look at it. I may relate it to seascape where my life is like a boat struggling in the middle of the sea full of high tide under a storm. Sometimes it’s all calm and composed and sometimes it’s in turmoil. Everyone can relate to that. Art is beautiful, it can show you a landscape that one can relate to as well. One might have been there in person while one sees what has been portrayed by the artist. If all that has not happened with you my friend, then you have not seen enough good art. Life imitates art as the artist beings some experiences or feelings of his or her personal life in every piece he or she might have done. This enhances the art and the audience can connect to it more. This connection between the artist and the audience creates “Masterpieces”.

When it comes to the medium of painting he says, “I prefer Oil Paints. I love the flow they have, I enjoy the blending ability they possess and the final outcome they give is just a ‘class’. Also, I’m a slow painter and the kind of work I do demands a lot of layering and detailing. Thus oil paints are the medium for me. I tried acrylics in the beginning and thankfully I switched to oil at the right time. Every artist has a comfort level with a specific medium.”

Tarun is a happy-go-lucky kind of individual who believes that life is always unpredictable. Having worked in reputed MNCs for 16 years, one fine day he is standing in an art Gallery pouring his inside out via his artifacts. “Definitely, now I would want to paint for the rest of my life as I enjoy painting. This creative side has changed me as a person and I can feel it”, says Tarun.

As for his message for aspiring artists’ he says, “I too have been stuck on a run-on-a-mill job for 16 years. This won’t be easy, it might or might not have money to get food on the table and to pay bills. I did not decide on this life for myself, it just happened to me. If you want to take a chance in life, go ahead, do it. You may never know how talented you are until you dive into the unknown. Your talent will decide for you, you may drown or you may swim across. Life is unexpected and one has to do the unexpected to be the one who created a ‘masterpiece’. I would do anything to be that guy where they talk about me and my work even after I’m gone.”