Kurchi Dasgupta re-interprets the magnificent epic, The Mahabharata in her new series through oil, gouache and mixed media on canvas. Comprising approximately 18 pieces, the series attempts to unravel The Mahabharata’s multilayered experience for the viewer. To document her response to the epic as a visual artist in terms of history, culture, gender and exposure to contemporary art practices, she covers a wide range of themes. While renditions of the Adi Parva express the all-encompassing, pieces like Draupadi delve into the world the characters inhabit. Death of Duryodhana and The Forest series are instances of how key incidents find a place in her repertoire while Hell or Heaven explores the human mind instead. Her engagement with The Mahabharata found expression in her solo exhibition, The Mahabharata: An Impression at Siddhartha Art Gallery in January 2010 (Kathmandu). Her works have already been shown in London twice - in a collective at The Brick Lane Gallery (2007) and the solo World Cinema: A Dialogue at the M P Birla Millennium Gallery (2008). 

Kurchi grew up in Kolkata, studied commercial art and did her postgraduation in Comparative Literature. She renders modern Bengali masterpieces into English, and has done illustrations for books, publishing and screenplays. A former CEO of the Society for the Preservation of Satyajit Ray Films in India, she now lives and works in Kathmandu (www.kurchidasgupta.com)