Untangled threads he weaves
The contradiction is stark. A dark, youngish man is deep in concentration while deftly embroidering a piece of cloth; an activity traditionally considered reserved for women. The man in question is a former Kolkata autorickshaw driver Bapi Das. There is nothing feminine about his powerful frame and massive arms. With four exhibitions to his credit in the past six years, the intricate elegance of his embroidered art pieces shines through. Untrained though he is, the 46-year-old uses the needle and fine varicoloured thread with the finesse of an artist wielding a brush and paint.
His works are currently on show at Dtale Archist (II) in Bengaluru, till January 4, 2025. The gallery’s artistic director and founder member and President of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, Bose Krishnamachari, discovered Das during the 2018 Biennale. Das remembers he had received a call from Anita Dube, who had curated the fourth edition. She had heard of him through the Kolkata art circuit. She asked him to send his work. By March 2018, he received confirmation of his participation. “Das’s work is not like that of any other designer or artist for he tells his own story,” says Krishnamachari.
All eight works exhibited at the Biennale were acquired by Rennie Museum of Vancouver, Canada, through the Kalakriti Art Gallery, Hyderabad where he used to show earlier. The art collections of Krishnamachari, impresario Ina Puri and artist Jayasri Burman includes his work. His pieces sell for anything between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 5 lakh, depending on the size. However, he has retained his gardener’s job with the Kolkata Municipal Corporation. “This has given me the freedom to work as I wish,” says Das.
In his tiny home in north Kolkata, the main space is occupied by a large bed, beside which is a contraption made of steel rods. Affixed to this is a fluorescent lamp and a wooden embroidery hoop with a magnifying glass that allows the bespectacled Das to finish finer details of his artwork. He gets the threads from white chiffon dupattas, which he gets dyed in the desired shades. “I have lived amid squalor from birth. In this new home, I have a little more space,” he smiles, as he talks about a tiny studio he has recently acquired in the same building.
Initially, Das worked in a factory manufacturing cupboards—the steel cupboard in his flat has been made by him. While trying to eke out a living, he would often turn to art as a stress-buster. “I wanted to do something new. So I took up embroidery,” he says. In the first exhibition of his work in 2014, which was curated by his mentor and artist Abhijit Dutta, Das embroidered the likeness of a worn-out envelope and of a threadbare wallet with the photograph of his mother and himself tucked inside—an apt metaphor for a life of hardship.
The unschooled Das has an independent vision; his compositions are clean and uncluttered. The process is elaborate. First he takes photos of what he wishes to depict with his mobile phone. He then takes a printout and traces the image on to cloth, leaving out unnecessary details. The contours are retraced with black thread and the “drawing”—as delicate as the drawings of Indian miniature paintings done with a brush and ink—is now ready to be coloured. He then meticulously fills in the space with the embroidery.
For the current exhibition in Bengaluru, Das brings to life the green metal frame of an autorickshaw above the mudguard, with its brand emblazoned on it. On its right, dangles a lime-and-green chili talisman. The luminosity of the headlight is noticeable. In another frame, a cheap, discarded plastic cup sits upended on a table. Ants are crawling inside. A trickle of tea stains the table top. Titled Remembrance, the work aims to take viewers back to the reality of an autorickshawwallah sharing a cuppa with mates. For sheer technical bravura, the two compositions of ant-infested sugar and rice scattered on the floor stand out.
At present the embroiderer is working on a composition of peacock plumes set upright against a wall whose plaster is crumbling. The contrast is an allegory of the symbolism or hope and reality.