Born and raised in Orissa, in 1968, Asit Kumar Patnaik spent most of his childhood in Cuttack. He received his Bachelor's degree in fine arts from the Government College of Art and Crafts at Khalikote and finished his Master’s from BHU Varanasi.
When the Almighty created the world He tried to maintain a cohesive harmony in it by creating a balance. He had a yin for every yang, a little evil of every good. Asit Kumar Patnaik’s paintings play around with this concept. He paints a cool backdrop to balance his warm toned subjects. As subjects, both men and women in erotic postures form an interesting storyline for the onlookers. His paintings have a sensual tone and entice the human mind.
Further more, the sultry red coloured hair, portray the passionate and empowered women of this day and age. Asit’s paintings are deeply rooted and the cracks in the background add a fascinating texture to the painting and contrast the smooth flowing brushwork in his artwork. Between the reds, blues and greens of the subjects and the ochers, greys, and browns of the backdrop, the artist gradually blends the two to and give the paintings a pleasant outlook.
The artist chooses a colour palette full of cool and rustic tones of reds, browns, ocher and teal that in a way represents that nothing in a relationship is black and white. Like the people in that relationship, and the relationship itself, Asit’s paintings are multifaceted.
The subjects, like many other lovers are engaged in non-verbal communication, stealing gazes with each other, shyly smiling, meeting each other’s eyes and then looking away. Their expressions and physical features depict what’s going on in their hearts and minds. The artist explores the relationship between the men and the women in these paintings by their physical proximity with each other, their expressions, and their soundless yet powerful communication.
