Dream Inc

A dreamy air envelopes the canvas. Shades of brown and red play out their roles. Aptly titled,The Blossom Of Dream,the painting has a voice of its own,captured by artist Prafulla Sawant. This work of art has been selected as the best entry for the Artist Excellence Award by Southwest Art magazine based in Broomfield,Colorado. Thirteen entries out of more than 2000 sent in by artists from across the globe were selected. Each canvas spoke of a different background – from figurative,wildlife to landscape.

Sawant’s painting is a mix. “When you look at it,you realise that it’s a portrait that interacts with its background. I tried to merge the subject with her surrounding. Many a time,we make a model pose and capture that pose on the canvas. But,according to me,that distorts reality. We all converse with our surrounding and this is what I really wanted to bring out,” he says.

Blossom of Dreams,painted with oil and acrylic colours,was first displayed in 2010 at the Nehru Centre along with 25 other paintings by Nasik-based artist. The art work was sent to the magazine in September last year. “I wanted to capture a dream in a meaningful way. I’ve used both realisit and abstract forms to tell my story,” he adds.

The artist attributes his inspiration to his family. “My father,B R Sawant,is an illustrative artist. My brother Rajesh is also an artist and my mother is a poet. I grew up painting and dabbling in art. After completing my degree from Kala Niketan Chitrakala Mahavidyalaya,I did a diploma in Fine Arts from J J School of Art,Mumbai,” he reveals. Sawant has previously been awarded 43 state and national awards for his art works along with seven scholarships.