At Exhibit 10.5 of the Daejeon Arts Collective at Igong Gallery from 15 to 19 April, six paintings marked the fine art début of 25-year-old comic book artist and writer, Arunasish Sen. Sen’s work is marked by a strong preference for clear lines reinforced by the application of India ink and watercolors with a dip pen or watercolor brush. His interest in Hergé, Hugo Pratt, Delacroix, and Van Gogh is evident.
His six exhibits in the gallery, signed ‘Essen’, appear to be autobiographical. A charming, if somewhat enigmatic woman is present in three of the paintings. The first painting, titled 'The Turmoil of Dejection', shows a faceless young man in a trench coat walking through a ferocious storm by the sea. The thunderous clouds seem to blend with the relentless waves crashing on to the shore. A train is passing by, and a pedestrian is struggling against the storm. The young man seems strangely unperturbed by all the chaos around him.
The second work, 'The Wreath of Doom and Hope', is entirely in India ink. Here, the same man is dancing with a woman, her face and form almost completely hidden. A pair of unearthly eyes act voyeur. 'The Wreath of Doom and Hope' is his first sale at ₩99,000.
The next two works are vibrant watercolors. In 'Whispering Love', the same couple is walking by a lake. The woman calls the man, beckoning him to look in the distance. In the next, called 'The Joy of Life', the woman is holding a goose in her arms, delighted, against an autumnal backdrop.
Being 'Nonconformist' portrays the man walking through an urban area. The people around him are wearing the same clothes as one another and performing identical actions. They are happy in their own world, unaware of the stranger, who sticks out like a sore thumb, their gaiety contrasting with his pensiveness. This pensiveness is seen, too, in Sen’s ambiguous final painting, 'Solitude', in which we encounter the young man sitting on a raft, staring at the moonlit sky.
Sen graduated with a BA (Honors) degree in English literature in 2018, and later pursued a certificate course in animation. He is currently an MBA student at SolBridge International School of Business and has lived in Korea since March 2021. He seeks to balance his love for art and literature by creating graphic novels, paintings, prose, and recently, poetry.
Contact cartoonist and writer Arunasish Sen via email: arunasishsen11@gmail.com.
Igong Gallery - 이공갤러리
