About the Work of Raka Bose Saha...
Raka's palette reflects the palpable colors of her native India: the saturated blues, magentas, golds and reds of especially its fabrics and flora. But it was only after having painted for many years it was brought to her notice that her color scheme compares to Fauvism, that short-lived movement from 1898 to 1908 that encouraged the aggressive application of color. “I painted only because color acted as an emotional force in my vision. Color created luminous light. Good friends who are artists tell me my color wheel is slightly turned. But it is too late for me to be confined. I call my style Post Post Impressionism.”
Color and composition are the two most important elements in Raka’s painting. She spends more time contemplating a composition than actually painting it. She enjoys painting on square canvases because the shape acts as a “block out of the main theme,” a vignette of a large picture. Despite colors that are sometimes unrealistic and clashing, tranquility and serenity prevail. Raka achieves this “through simple arrangements of flowers and fruits. Subject matter indicates the ‘atmosphere’ of a painting, along with the color. A blood red color on a flower is much more tranquil than a blood red human body.”
- Debbie Oliver, Arts & Opinion 2007
