The Open Studio / Pritesh Bhowmick
Pritesh Bhowmick
Who am I ?
Bodies in hiding, heads swallowed by purple, gold burning behind them
Grey like old silver, then white plaster spreading as if a wall is giving way.
A body leans back while its head pours out sideways into purple.
Behind it, a coil of gold turns like a small warm sun.
Two more figures fold and kneel, faces lost in the same soft weight.
Teal stains rise at the edges like water through stone.
Under the cover, the skin stays warm and brown.
The work
Who am I? is painted on two wooden panels placed side by side. Pritesh Bhowmick works with natural pigment and plaster. The surface grows in layers. Some layers are peeled away and new ones are added on top. Pale plaster patches now break up the dark grey ground. Three figures lie, crouch and bend. Their heads disappear into long purple shapes. Gold leaf shines behind two of them. For Bhowmick, gold points to queer style. It works as a shield and as a sign of being different.
In the artist’s words
“My practice is rooted in memory and lived trauma. Rather than escape, I chose to engage with these experiences. I see queerness not as a fixed category but as an evolving process of becoming. Gold leaf and loud props are shields and affirmations of difference. I peel away surfaces and add new layers, as identities are revealed, concealed and reshaped.”
- Theme
- Queer identity and concealment
- Material
- Mixed media: natural pigment and plaster on wood
- Size
- 60.9 × 121.9 cm
- Year
- 2025
- Edition
- 1 of 1
- Framed
- No
- About the artist
- Sir JJ school of art
- From
- Nabadwip
- Code
- RC-3722
