Bhubaneswar: Pen is mightier than a sword whether it is writing or artwork. Micro artist Susrita Samantaray wields the pen to draw her favourite places in Odisha with an ordinary ballpoint pen on A4 size sheets. With her intricate drawings of monuments, the Konark Temple, Mahanadi Barrage in Cuttack, Khanadagiri-Udaygiri caves in Bhubaneswar, Kalijai Temple in Chilika and the just completed Jagannath Temple of Puri, she could well be called the cultural ambassador of the state.
Drawing Jagannath Temple took Susrita two months. “It is a part of the Big Series that I have been doing and since it is Rath Yatra today, there could not have been a better day to complete the same,” said the 25-year-old biotechnologist from Bhubaneswar.
She has been doing micro art on different themes and subjects using pens only. She completed her M.Tech from KIIT University and is currently working as an Innovation Associate in National Innovation Foundation (NIF).
“I believe in simplifying the communication between art and science. My work is inspired mostly by the miracles in life,” she said. Her Facebook ‘Susritart’, she added, is born out a combination of her education, passion and hobby. Her page carries all her micro art.
Art, she said, helps her heal when she is disturbed. “I meander in the world of patterns and details which often shifts my focus from problems to the beauty in life,” she added. It started in 2013 when she was a student.
“During the incubation period of lab hours, I would get a one-two hour gap so I would scribble abstract art in my diary or a notebook. It grew from a free time vocation into a passion,” she said.
During her course periods, the idea to collaborate art and science struck her and thus, she started her scientific illustrations. A nature-lover, she loves capturing the beauty of it. “Nature became an inspiration again. I thought of taking micro-art to the next level and wanted to promote my state through it. I began Big projects on A4 pages involving various temples of Odisha,” she said.
Her art illustrations were selected for various competitions like Global Bioeconomy Summit in Berlin and International Biological Engineering Meeting in New Delhi.
She has also started a Micro Daily series called #sus_microseries (10*10 cm page) representing different scenarios, nature, monuments, culture, streets, etc., of Odisha. “I will try to cover as many places as I can,” she added.
The art, she further said, is very time-consuming. “It needs a lot of patience and there is a lot of stress on the eyes but the sheer joy of doing it doesn’t let any factor affect me,” she said gleefully. She wants to challenge herself further with myriad themes.
“I am looking forward to opening a company of my own to carry out designing and work on creative ideas. If it works out, I would love to teach budding artists in Odisha,” she further said.
She also has a YouTube channel where her art has been turned into a video.
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