Fragile Lives in Concrete Jungles
- Ranjan Kaul
- 6 days ago
- 4 min read
Artist Suman Kabiraj in Conversation with Ranjan Kaul
A visual artist based in Kolkata, Suman Kabiraj completed his MFA and BFA from the Government College of Art, Kolkata. His practice spans drawing, painting, installation, and multimedia works that explore migration, labour, urbanization, and environmental transformation in contemporary India. Rooted in social observation and lived experience, his work foregrounds marginalized voices and fragile human–nature relationships, using drawing as a primary language to narrate resilience, displacement, and evolving urban realities. He is represented in various art exhibitions, art fairs and art projects worldwide.
Ranjan Kaul: How has been your art journey so far? What challenges have you faced as an artist? Any role models?
Suman Kabiraj: My art journey has been deeply organic, shaped by my early life in a small town and later by my academic training at Government Art College, Kolkata. Moving between rural memory and urban experience has continuously informed my concerns and visual language. One of the major challenges has been to sustain a socially engaged practice while navigating institutional expectations, limited resources, and the pressures of visibility. However, these challenges have also sharpened my clarity and commitment. I am inspired by artists who engage honestly with social realities and use their practice as a tool for reflection, resistance, and empathy.
RK: What inspires you to work with themes related to migration, labour and shifting landscapes of urban landscapes? What is your objective?
SK: Migration and labour are lived realities that surround me daily in Indian cities. I am particularly drawn to the silent presence of workers, street vendors, and migrants who build and sustain urban life yet remain largely unseen and unheard. Rapid urbanization constantly reshapes physical and social landscapes, often erasing histories and human stories. My objective is not only to document these conditions but to create spaces of reflection—where viewers are encouraged to engage emotionally and ethically with questions of displacement, dignity, progress, and belonging.
RK: For your recent series you have used drawing-based installations as your medium of expression? Why do you think this medium is best suited for what you wish to convey?
SK: Drawing is the most immediate and instinctive medium for me—it allows a direct connection between thought, hand, and surface. When expanded into installation, drawing moves beyond the frame and becomes spatial, immersive, and experiential. This helps the viewer physically enter the narrative rather than passively observe it. Drawing-based installations also embody fragility and impermanence, qualities that resonate deeply with themes of migration, uncertainty, and the transient nature of urban life.
RK: In your work you juxtapose abstracted elements from the urban landscape with human figuration? How does this work for you as artistic representation? What is more important for you: aesthetic considerations or the message or both?
SK: The abstraction of urban forms reflects the overwhelming scale, density, and anonymity of contemporary cities, while human figures anchor the work emotionally and socially. This contrast mirrors the tension between individual lives and impersonal urban structures. For me, aesthetics and message are inseparable—visual strength invites engagement, while content sustains it. Aesthetic decisions are never decorative; they are conceptual tools that intensify meaning and deepen the viewer’s emotional response.
RK: What is the process of your art creation? Where is your workplace / studio?
SK: My process begins with close observation—walking through cities, interacting with people, sketching, photographing, and collecting visual and textual references. Research, memory, and lived encounters gradually shape the conceptual framework of each work. I often work through multiple stages of drawing, material experimentation, and spatial planning before final execution. While my studio is based in Kolkata as well as in Birbhum very near to Santiniketan, I frequently work outdoors and on-site, allowing the environment itself to inform the work’s direction and form.
RK: Have you worked with different themes and mediums earlier? Given your drawing style using thick black lines, have you explored or considered doing woodcut etching prints?
SK: Yes, my practice has evolved across themes such as climate change, environmental degradation, pandemic memory, and rural–urban transitions. I have worked with painting, mixed media, video, and installation alongside drawing. Printmaking, especially woodcut and etching, strongly interests me because of its physical engagement, graphic clarity, and historical association with social commentary. I see printmaking as a natural extension of my drawing language and plan to explore it more rigorously in future projects.
RK: As in the case of your work, contemporary art is now multidisciplinary and socially engaged. Do you welcome this trend? Do you see it growing in India?
RM: I strongly welcome this shift toward multidisciplinary and socially engaged practices. It allows artists to respond more honestly to complex social, political, and environmental realities. In India, I see this approach steadily growing, particularly among younger artists who are questioning dominant narratives and experimenting across forms. Such practices extend art beyond gallery spaces, encourage dialogue, and make artistic engagement more accessible and relevant to broader audiences.
RK: Besides the visual arts, what are your other interests? How do they influence your art?
SK: I have a deep interest in experiment filmmaking, documentary filmmaking, folk culture, music, and social history. These engagements sharpen my sensitivity to narrative, sound, and lived experience, often influencing the rhythm and structure of my visual work.I actively work in short film and documentary filmmaking, focusing on social, cultural, and human narratives rooted in real-life experiences. My films have been showcased and screened across various national and international platforms, reaching audiences worldwide. Interacting with oral histories and cultural practices helps me think of art not merely as an object, but as a form of storytelling, archiving, and collective memory—something that exists in dialogue with people and place.
(All images are courtesy of the artist Suman Kabiraj.)
Ranjan Kaul is a visual artist, art writer and critic, curator, published fiction author, and Founding Partner of artamour. His works may be viewed on www.ranjankaul.com and his Instagram handle @ranjan_creates.
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