What is your first impression of the guy in this photo? What if I told you that he is a nice, charming and very sociable guy? Or does he remind you of Robert De Niro’s Mohawk in “Taxi Driver”?
It does look freakishly similar and wait till he says ‘You talkin’ to me?’.
Like every painting, this too has a story. I always liked a nice clean cut until I delved into fine arts. That beard on my schmuck face, presented an ever ready canvas.
My art teacher, Dipa, encouraged me to do self portrait but with a twist. Instead of watercolor sketch, I did a first draft on my face. The twist got a bit too twisted for people’s comfort and I polarized them.
‘Did you go under a mince meat machine?’ or ‘Did you upset your wife and she scratched it out?’.
These reactions were funny yet telling and then came an unusual one. Returning from my art class, I had to hail a taxi. 5 Taxis went past empty but did not care to wait and 6th changed to ‘Busy’. Hell yeah! I did scare the crap out of these folks. When I entered one of the malls, kids smiled and waved at me. It was reassuring that innocence can still see through that dreaded look.
This self portrait is a testimony to how we adults love to stereotype. My aim, through my art, is to help liberate people’s minds like those kids waving at me and hope it will help to change this world to a better place. Adios!
Creative Meanderings of a liberated mind 