You have loved her collages, now meet the artist, Shakila

Kolkata artist Shakila, whose creations have travelled to France, Germany, Norway and America, stepped out of her home state for the first time ever earlier this month for her exhibition at the Patna Museum. The exhibit features 30 of her artworks created between 1993-2024. “I always believe in creating something better than my last artwork. That’s something I learnt from Baba,” said the lady in her 50s, who calls her mentor – a retired government employee and painter, the late Baldev Raj Panesar – Baba.Speaking to us at an art gallery in the city after returning from Patna, she gets candid about her work, creative process and more.

Shakila can turn anything into art. The catalogue of her artworks is proof to that. “The first time I wanted to give Baba something, I asked my husband, Akbar, what it should be. He said since I’m a vegetable vendor’s wife, a collage with a vegetable theme would be good. That’s when I made a collage suing kaancha lanka, koraishuthi, and pepe, and gifted it to Baba,” she said, adding, “Back then, paper, especially coloured paper, was too expensive for me, so I worked with cardboard and whatever paper I could lay my hands on.”

The project that put her on the global map
The year 2000 brought along a major turning point in Shakila’s career as an artist when the Hannover Fair in Germany commissioned her to create a stall with a hundred giant installations for the Grameen Bank. As her home was too small to accommodate the installations, a pandal was set up near her house for her to work in. She completed the installations in over two months and the stall garnered a lot of praise at the fair. “I used the money I received from the project to build my house,” said Shakila with a smile.

Mother by day, artist by night
Being a mother of three, pursuing her passion wasn’t a cakewalk for Shakila. “I have two sons and a daughter, so I always preferred to work at night because the daytime was always dedicated to my family. My husband has always been really supportive,” she said, adding, “Our house was small, so I used the verandah as my studio.”

Blurring boundaries
The director of the city gallery that helped Shakila’s art reach the right audience, Rakhi Sarkar, recounted some anecdotes from Shakila’s life. “She is a tenacious, but quiet person. Once we hosted an exhibition of her collection, which included a collage featuring Goddess Kali. Some men had a problem with a woman, who’s not from the Hindu community, creating such an artwork. But how do you make them understand that an artist is non-judgemental.” To this, Shakila said, “I created that portrait of Maa without thinking about any religion. To me, she is a mother who looks after all children, and gives all of them equal love.”

'I always try to outdo my previous work. This is what Baba had taught me – never get complacent and strive to get better with each artwork'
'Since I don’t have formal training in art, a lot of trial and error goes into creating a collage. A lot of mental imagery is at play, and that finally takes the form of abstract art'