Santanu Hazarika started on the path to engineering but didn’t enjoy the subject and began doodling. After creating doodles endlessly, inspired by comic books, heavy metal, street art and Japanese anime, he ultimately participated in the 2014 Red Bull Doodle Art Championships and won. That’s when the 30-something-year-old started to be taken seriously. We spoke to the doodle art champion-turned-visual artist during the recently-held Mumbai Gallery Weekend (MGW), about his first solo show called ‘Blck’ at Gallery Art & Soul, featuring two-toned journeys into his thought and personal influences, stemming from “comfortable turbulences”. Excerpts:
How did you get into the world of doodling?
I used to doodle in my notebook during my engineering days. That’s how it started. I was bad at studies and doodling became an escape. I became better at it and finally entered the Red Bull Championships and won. That’s how I got into visual art and painting. Today, I design, I make art; I do murals. I just kept doing what I enjoyed doing. Ultimately, you have to keep scaling up and experimenting, expanding your skillset and work hard.
You have been one of the fastest-selling artists on NFT platforms. How would you introduce other artists to metaverse and NFTs and why do you think it's important for artists to embrace this change in the art world?
While selling one’s art on metaverse, one needs to show why their art holds value, what is the plan for sale. Why should someone be a collector of your artwork? Everything is pretty simple, to be honest. It’s about spending a few hours doing some research and understanding different platforms. It’s the same as the real world. The analogy is similar. Like we have galleries, here also we have platforms where people put up their artworks and mint them. The initial problems for artists arise from paying the Gas Fees associated with minting and NFTs, which are high. However, other blockchain technologies are coming up where you don’t have to pay the fees; you can mint for free. Artists who want to start can use these platforms. Today, it’s important for artists to embrace the metaverse because it’s going to be the future of how we consume art and data. NFTs are a precursor to how to use Web 3.0, which is the internet’s next phase. This is what is going to define everything around us in the next few years in terms of art, data and consumerism.
Picasa
Picasa
People hold the perception that art is expensive, so what do you charge for your artworks?
I do commission work. Right now, I’m working with a gallery and they handle the pricing and decide how we trade, etc. I’ve worked with brands such as Adidas, Reebok and Red Bull International. Red Bull is one of my recurring clients; I’ve been part of their artistic projects. A few years ago, I designed the entire Rajasthan Royals bus. The prices of my artworks range from a few thousand rupees to a few lakhs.
Could you talk about the shift from being a heavy metal and rock band fan to designing album art for them?
I see things from both a design and an artistic perspective. When I’m working with a brand or music artist, I infuse my style of work. I’m not approached as a graphic designer or a contractor. I’m approached as an artist to give direction to their vision. And I deliver the artwork and design through my vision, my signature style. For music artists like Nucleya, MC Altaf and Ritviz, I listen to their music, I decode it, I try to understand their influences, I read the lyrics, I get the concept, and I work on design around that, mixed with my style of visual representation.
Can you elaborate on the dark and macabre themes in your artworks?
I’ve always been a rebel. I’m very determined and have never bowed down to anyone. There have been hurdles and turbulence, but I’ve always kept at my work and worked hard. I was close to giving up many times but I kept going. I made it a point to have 100 possibilities of doing something, and narrowed them down to 10 or five or two possibilities. It doesn’t matter how many times you fail, or how many people tell you it’s not going to work, one needs to keep at it and keep going. That’s what helped me break stereotypes. Being persistent and sticking to what I liked doing. There were lots of issues growing up in a small city.
I had to face a lot of difficulties in pursuing something that I was passionate about, and was forced to do something else. But I’ve always dealt with the situation through humour. No matter how morbid and dark the situation is, humour has always helped me. Most of my artworks are morbidly humourous and sexual at the same time. I draw a lot of inspiration from heavy metal. That has added aggression to my process. Being forced to do something that I wasn’t comfortable doing pushed me into depression and my only constant source of upliftment was music. I’m grateful that I could channel this oppression and discomfort-into visual illustration. That’s where I draw most of my dark themes.
Rapid fire with Santanu
1. What theme would you doodle for love?
Slip knot mask.
2. Favourite mythological character?
Cerberus, the three-headed demon dog.
3. Favourite music band?
Suicideboys.
4. Powers you would assume if you were superhuman?
Invincibility.
5. Favourite fashion to hang out with friends in?
Jordan 1s, Shorts and Hoodies.
6. Favourite cuisine?
Japanese.
