E-Paper
Pune’s Banksy paints up his 100-wall art mission
After battling cancer for four years, Sharma is adding some colour to the streets of Pune. He wants to be able to beautify and clean all the walls in the city with sensible and meaningful graffiti
A big roaring lion, a bird that morphs into a paper plane and a lazy brown cat are all Pune’s newest inhabitants. Painted on walls across the city, these are the creations of Kartikey Sharma, a Pune-based artist, who is in the process of painting 100 murals as a part of his #PaintPune Project.
After battling cancer for four years, Sharma is adding some colour to the streets of Pune. He wants to be able to beautify and clean all the walls in the city with sensible and meaningful graffiti.
Using art to recover
An engineer by education, Sharma’s brush with art started when he was in the first grade It became a more regular practice when he was diagnosed with a tumour during a full body check-up in 2009. He was in Class 12 then and he would paint something after every exam to cope up with stress. “Art has helped me calm down, deal with pain and frustration. It is like meditation. It makes me introspect and as they say the answers we are searching for are within us, I discovered that through art.”
What’s he painting next?
Sharma has a target of beautifying 100 walls in the city. Talking about the project, he says, “I have painted seven walls till now. I always wanted to use art as a way to give back to the society. Work happened, my health condition deteriorated and other things put it on the back burner. However, now I have decided to pursue it completely. Under Jumbish (his art company) we recently launched our Open Door Art School, where the idea is to take art beyond the classroom. While doing so I am working on the wall project too.”
Each wall, requires ₹6,000 to clean and paint it. “So far, I have had friends who help me out. I have approached paint companies and other facilities. Honestly, even if the money doesn’t come in through other sources, I am still going to go ahead. This is my dream and I will work towards bringing in everything.”
Sharma starts with seeking permissions, whether it is a private or public wall. “Vimannagar walls already have a lot of graffiti on it. But they are in bad taste, they are not done aesthetically and merely for the sake of scribbling. I want to encourage graffiti, but it has to be meaningful. There should be a proper background and approach to it.”
Finding the right balance
“I won’t say my personal health hasn’t affected my work. I have always loved to work on large spaces and on public walls and I had to reduce the size of my canvas. I am very inspired by how Vincent Van Gogh used to spend his day. I do the same. I wake up and make my bed to have the first feeling of accomplishment and then sit and paint from 9am to 6pm like an office-goer. I keep regular targets and achieve them, it gives me a sense of occasional success which keeps me motivated to keep painting.”
Can you paint with him too?
Kartikey is looking to work with other artists and will happily accept volunteers. One can get in touch with him on social media. If you love the idea, but can’t paint, you can contribute monetarily and help him in the process.
