A journey into a magical world

Unique hobbies

It’s quite easy to get lost in one’s dreams — there are so many bends and routes that one can take. The various permutations that arise when a person makes use of their imagination is staggering. But most don’t fancy losing their way. Bakula Nayak, however, can’t stop herself from wandering into world that is magical and homegrown. 

As she saunters in and out of a world that only she can see, she tries to bring back souvenirs for everyone in the form of her artwork. The artist attempts to recreate her the adventures, exploits and experiences she has in her dreams through ink and pencils. “My illustrations are borne out of my love for all things vintage and my insane desire for romance in the mundane. I have a tape in my mind that projects an alternate reality while I go about the mundanities of life,” she says.

What’s unique about Bakula’s artwork is that she draws on vintage paper. Over the years, she has collected stacks of vintage articles, books, legal documents and more, and uses them as canvas for her designs. She eloquently explains, “I never fix or stick the vintage paper – I let them carry on their story with their scars. It is a poignant reminder that something has survived nearly a 100 years.”

She has legal documents and love letters that date back to the early 1900s. While most people go through great measures to ensure that vintage works don’t lose their old-world charm, Bakula prefers adding her own special touch to them. She says she “goes nuts” over paper and stationary. “I have always liked collecting anything vintage. But my journey started with an antique book of sample wallpapers, circa 1931. They were so beautiful that I wanted them to have a new life. The leather handle had to be removed and the paper carefully removed from the long nails. Also, after my parents passed away a year ago, I found a bunch of love letters my father had written to my mother in their early days of marriage. I couldn’t believe my parents had written such letters. ” She adds that it was this beauty that inspired her to make them into something else. “I have receipts and petrol bills that date back to the 1930s, Kannada paper clippings from 1921 and more. I beg and borrow to get my hands on them. Sometimes it’s serendipity that I get my hands on them.”

Amidst sending off her kids to school and looking after the house, she manages to escape reality for a few hours. “I feel like a heroine when I put myself in a story.” She says that since she can’t be sure of what happened in that time, she creates a story of her own and inks it later. “I have this one receipt where the person has purchased lots of construction material but also bought cereal and butter. It makes me wonder what the person was thinking or how he took his toast.”

   Once she’s done with the work, she refuses to look at it again. “I don’t like seeing my work once it’s done. The joy is in the process of making it.”

To make sure that the paper doesn’t get ruined when she draws on it, Bakula has duplicate copies of designs. “Initially, I would erase and draw on the paper, and they would get ruined. But now, I make rough copies on different paper of the same size.” She adds that she cries over vintage paper that is ruined. 

She says she prefers the papers to be displayed somewhere rather than sitting in her drawer. On how she draws them, she adds, “I always start inking the one thing I am absolutely sure of and let the rest of the composition take its own course. I need complete silence when I conceptualise and plan my pieces but when I start inking I need trashy Bollywood music – the trashier the song the better my inking!”  Saying that every paper has a life of its own, she says that most of her works have birds and a tea cup in them. According to her, she is the bird, free to fly as it wishes!