A window to the world

According to illustrator and comic artist Saumin Patel, India is a country that loves sex, but does not love talking about it, that is why Kaamotsav– Volume 1, a collection of erotic art is among his pet personal projects.

“It is a very idiotic and explosive situation in the country. The idea behind my project is that ancient Indian temples, caves, and other places of worship, had a lot of erotic sculptures and murals. The entire society had access to this imagery and maybe because of this, the society’s approach to the subjects of sex and sexuality was open,” explains Saumin, who was among the artists who participated at the Comic-Con Bengaluru 2018. He is known for his work on graphic novel Agent Vinod – The Jungfrau Encounter (Westland, Illuminate Films); comics The Mighty Yeti, The Mumbai Macguffin (Virgin Comics, Graphic India), The Age of Immortal (Holy Cow), and Blazing Bajirao (Sanjay Leela Bhansali Films, Eros International). He has also worked with Image Comics on Black Cloud.

“Currently we are not exploring or presenting erotica at all, in contemporary art. The only version of erotica that the society is consuming is the crass version, in film songs, which children are also consuming. Children don’t really have too many other forms of entertainment to consume, and this creates deeper scars on the psyche of the society. I wanted to work on erotica, not just as a visual project but also as a conversation starter.”

After having self-funded and promoted the first volume of artworks as part of Kaamotsav, he is now working on the second and the third volumes in the series.

“I don’t get to do things like this in my commercial projects. It is important for me to have this small window, through which I can project to the world, how I look at things around me,” explains Saumin. “Once I have a substantial body of work for the next two volumes, I will bring them out. The second volume will likely contain anywhere between 50 and 80 illustrations.” The books, at the moment, feature only images, without text. “I did not want to bind the images with words because when you do that, the images are restricted to those words. These are wordless images that viewers can interpret the way they want to, that way the story can be endless. However as I move along, if I find any stories that fall into this realm, I wouldn’t mind exploring them. Project Kaamotsav, is a celebration of desires, as its name suggests.”

Another of his pet projects also involves iconic imagery, of deities. “In India, we have been praying to the images of gods, largely created by artists. As a comic book artist when I look at stories, I also get certain images in my head which I want to share.”

Saumin says he was first drawn to the art form by Mario Miranda’s illustrations in his school textbooks.

“Each lesson at that time had two illustrations. I have never been much of a reader, I always connected through pictures, which I found self-explanatory. I am excited by illustrations as a viewer. There are so many artists whose work I admire and since I have the ability to do it as well, I see if I can bring in some of these qualities into my work.”

Saumin says though right now, comics are his preferred medium of storytelling, and he defines himself as a storyteller, this may evolve in the future. He has already been working on comic art for films (through storyboards and the like) such as Andhadhun and Super 30. He is currently working on storyboards for Ashutosh Gowariker’s upcoming Panipat.

“Comics offer an unadulterated way of telling a story, with no restrictions. The only restriction is in the mind. Perhaps over a period of time, I would want to make films that follow the same kind of dynamics and present them to a wider audience. I am working on other ideas for longer and shorter format films.”