Ruma Choudhury

As visual artists, we are privileged to imagine, conceive and express ourselves in a relatively free sphere. However, there is also a practical side to our art making which is inescapable. Our painting process requires us to use a BRUSH. It is the indispensible tool without which we cannot speak to our audience. And the best brushes are made with SQUIRREL HAIR, hair which is procured from the animal’s tail. The fact remains that thousands of squirrels perish just to sustain our art.
Personally, this fact has always bothered me. It became an unfolding journey for me as an artist and a human being. The loss of innocent lives continued to haunt, the forlorn cries of the tiny creatures never stopped ringing in my mind. I lived with my private distress for quite sometime. The casual acceptance by artists, who otherwise collectively (and proudly) wear the badge of sensitivity, was steeped in irony. This somehow steeled my determination. I needed to translate my rage into a constructive language for my own sake, if not for the art fraternity.
I have thick and long hair, which my friends, acquaintances and even total strangers envy and enjoy. They often feel emboldened to share my hair, feel it, ‘wear’ it and even on occasions tear it.
With time, I came up with the idea that I should make my paintings with a BRUSH of course, but not the conventional one made with the hair of the SQUIRREL, rather with my OWN hair. I made my hair my own raw material for making the BRUSH rather than the one taken from animals without their permission.
Thus my HAIR became my BRUSH.
I have been performing on this subject for the last four years, maybe more. I have received a positive response from the art fraternity, which has pushed me to go ahead with this idea and create more instances, that I hope will someday contribute to a better environment.