Twin City Artists Create Corona Plight & Fight On Canvas

Bhubaneswar: Artists from the twin cities are spending the lockdown days by painting to express their views on the coronavirus pandemic.

Deepak Biswal, a young artist from Cuttack, has portrayed the plight of the people on canvas. His painting showcases the world crying under lockdown. Interestingly, it also showcases the Jagannath temple in Puri.

“The whole world is crying now. We have never seen such a situation before. Coronavirus has surrounded the world completely,” Deepak said.

On the temple motif, he explained, “We are praying Lord Jagannath to save the world. He can help us to overcome this difficult time.”

The acrylic on canvas painting also sends across the message of taking safeguards to beat the virus. “We should take care of ourselves. We should stay at home. We should use masks and use sanitizers properly. We should support and respect the police, media persons and health workers,” he said.

“Besides, I am doing some other paintings on different situations during this lockdown period,” he added.

Bhubaneswar-based artist Ashis Das has made some Pattachitras, dedicating them to front-line warriors battling this difficult situation as well as spreading awareness through his works.

“The story of one of my paintings is about the Varaha (boar) avatar of Lord Vishnu. In this avatar, Lord Vishnu killed Hiranyaksha, who had submerged the earth into Patal Lok. The Varaha avatar of lifted the earth back from the cosmic depths to save the planet, Similarly, our front-line warriors like police, media persons, health workers and sanitation workers are a playing a vital role in safeguarding society now,” said Ashis.

“Through this work, I have expressed gratitude to our heroes who are fighting against the virus directly and being exposed to risk for our safety,” he added.

Ashis has made the Pattachitra paintings on silk cloth.