Deepak, making art out of the ever changing world

Ours is an ever changing world. From the languages to landscapes to laws, everything keeps evolving with time. While for some, these changes dissolve in time, for others, these changes are fascinating and Deepak Kumar is one of the latter. Born on August 2, 1993 in Deshrajpur village of Bihar, Deepak is an observer of the changing world and is an artist, portraying that change in his art.

Deepak Kumar explores the implications of widespread urbanization and its repercussions on biodiversity via the mediums of painting, sculpture, and installations. He works from his home in Kaladham Society, Greater Noida.

Growing up in a small village, he was surrounded by a breath-taking panorama of fields and the river Ganges. His instinct as a child was to paint the landscapes that lay before him and transformed him into someone who loved nature. With the unavailability of the materials to make his art, little Deepak used to draw using mud with his fingers. The tiny pieces that snapped off the terracotta roofs became his crayons, and his colors were created by crushing flowers.

Deepak's fascination with art captured his attention, and in 2015 and 2017, he decided to pursue his Bachelor's and  his Master's degree in painting from the College of Art, New Delhi. But when he initially arrived in Delhi, the abrupt transition from the vast fields to skyscrapers startled him. Deepak observes Delhi, crowded with people and structures and has a distinct way of life from Bihar's more natural surroundings.

Deepak says, "Everyone here is racing to be in the tallest building in Delhi. However, nobody cares to evaluate the consequences of that. In my village, where the cows would come wandering into our yard, the sparrows chirped and fluttered as I painted, Delhi hardly has any picture like that, except for the occasional encounters with the stray cows on the roads. I began to examine the reasons for the vanishing biodiversity. "

The imbalance of ecology became the subject of Deepak's art. He discovered through his observation that urbanization is the main  factor causing this deterioration of the environment, and as a result, it has become the focus of his profession. He uses a variety of materials, including wood, metal, and resin, in his paintings, sculptures, and installations to establish a dialogue about the unsettling relationship between human habitations and their surrounding ecosystems.

He has documented, photographed, and stored animal and bird bones that he found trapped in the urban jungle throughout the past 12 years of living in the city. These objects form the foundation of all of his creations.

On asking him about the aim of his work, he says, "Through my art, I want to highlight the presumably unintended harmful  consequences of development. By using art, I try to give voice to my friends of other species, I wish to change the way we view development and demonstrate that biodiversity need not be lost for us to survive."

"Why should it be either us or them when we might all be in the same ecosystem?" Deepak asks everyone. He gathered diverse birds, animals, insects, and natural shapes from abandoned buildings and scenes of accidents as a part of his creative process. He then studied the form of those birds and insects and turned them into paintings, sculptures and installations.

Deepak says, "I have seen rapid urbanization has taken the center stage in the ever-growing, modern cities. It’s like we are creating a jail or labyrinth itself in cities. That's what comes out in my art."

He has also participated in many solo and group exhibitions to share his vision with the society. His work has been exhibited in galleries and exhibitions such as such as Terrain art gallery Group Exhibition, National Lalit Kala Academy, Gallery78 (Hyderabad), Art Pilgrim Live (Gurugram), IHC Visual art gallery group show (New Delhi), AIFACS Gallery Annual Portrait Exhibition  and more.