US Consul General in Kolkata, Melinda Pavek’s home on Ho Chi Minh Sarani was getting the final touch up before Christmas when we met her. The diplomat was also in festive mood looking fresh in a formal jacket of her favourite colour, red, and a ditsy candy stick earring from a set that was gifted to her by one of her close relatives. The house is strewn with paintings that she collected in course of her twodecade long career and they reflect her keen interest in art. The latest one commissioned to Vidushie Shriya Kandoi occupies a central position in the living room on the ground floor and encapsulates Melinda’s life in the majestic form of a peacock in origami style. Born in Kanpur and then studied in Delhi and London, Vidushie specialises in digital to physical, pop colour acrylics to pen and ink, canvas, paper and even hand painted wooden frames. To know more about the digital piece of art, we sat for a hearty tete-a-tete with the diplomat. Excerpts:
What was it that led to the art piece?
I have to admit that I have so little artistic capability that when somebody says they’re an artist I’m like, oh! show me your work. I met Vidushie at a Swiss Consul General’s party and she was able to pull out of her phone all of those amazing images of different types of projects that she’s done. So that was of course an immediate conversation starter.
How did the peacock come into the frame?
My last name is Pavek and it means small peacock in Czech. And it’s been interesting how the peacock has come into my life in a lot of different ways. And of course, it being the national bird of India felt natural. However, if you notice it’s done in an origami style and I have strong attachment with Japan as I have studied and worked there. Also, my sister lives in Tokyo and is married to a Japanese man. So, it's like my second home.
A closer look at the digital art commissioned to Vidushie
How many pictures are there on the peacock’s feathers?
There is a total of 22 pictures.
And you had to select from how many pictures?
We had to strictly condense it because if we had our way the project would have taken the entire wall (laughs). She did a wonderful job balancing detail with sort of all the places and getting it all kind of connected. It felt like a one-year relationship that developed into a friendship. Also, it was like a therapy for me because I had all these old pictures from different places and going back to the memory and selecting them for the project was nostalgic. We had this very active email exchange that allowed us to go back and forth to arrive here.
Take us through the art piece.
Let’s start with the image of Buddha. Buddhism is a foundation of so many different places I’ve travelled and lived. So, I think for me it’s kind of a spiritual connection with the Buddha. And then that picture of ruins is from Beijing where I went in 1989 as part of a college trip and we were the first large group of students that were permitted to China, after the Tiananmen Square massacre. We went to the Summer Palace and found students studying in ruins and we had a great time. Then there’s my partner, my family, my friends and the first piece of art that I brought and other subsequent and remarkable art pieces that I added to my collection later. Then there are snapshots of places I have lived and worked like Baghdad, Minneapolis, Islamabad, Taiwan, Japan, India…
While the project captures different facets of your life, personal as well as professional, we find an Indian element yes, but Kolkata seems to be missing in the picture…
Well, actually we had originally planned the edges of the frame would have the elements of Bengali folk art. But since there’s so much happening already in the frame, we kept edges in red, the colour of Maa. So, that is Kolkata. But I also think that there's so much to do and see and learn in India and in Kolkata that even though I have a three-year assignment, it’s not enough. So, I have this plan that once I’ve retired from the service, I will come back every year between October and March and make my way around India, but always sort of start and end in Kolkata.
Okay, so since you have an eye for art, do you practice any art form?
The only form of art I’ve ever really practised consistently is pottery. I haven’t done it lately though but in different places that I’ve served, I’ve taken pottery classes. In Jamaica, I took an evening class at the local university. Also, during my visit to Santiniketan I met a potter who had a traditional wheel pottery and she let me dig my hands into clay. So, pottery is something that I would love going back to. Otherwise, when I was younger, I used to draw a little bit. However, I’ve had the pleasure of meeting so many wonderful artists and seeing the work and I even collect art.
Do you have any resolution for 2023?
I usually don’t make a resolution and rather choose a word as my theme for the year. And I’m thinking about the word intentional, as a theme for 2023. It’s got so many depths to it, you know. It has the meaning of having an intention but it also has the meaning of being in the moment. So, I'm thinking about intentional, but I haven’t decided specifically yet. It’s my sister who suggested the idea of having a word as a theme for a year rather than a resolution.
What was the word for 2022?
2022 has been mindfulness. And mindfulness and intentional are similar enough that maybe I need to have something very different. And 2021 was actually a whole bunch of words, which didn’t work out so well. There were words that started with C. So, confidence, courage, connectedness…