Draft:Ashish Kansara - Kutch

Ashish Kansara's Biography

Ashish Shantilal Kansara was born in 1975 in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. His father’s name is Shantilal Jamnadas Kansara and mother’s name is Kaushalya Shantilal Kansara. Ashish Kansara is only a 9th grader from Meghdoot Vidya Vihar Gujarati Medium School. After listening to an interview in All India Radio, about Rogan art, Ashish Kansara started learning Rogan art when he was in 10th grade and he left the school.

Rogan Silk Painting

Ashish Kansara’s Rogan painting is unique in that he creates portraits and Rogan painting of gods. He has created paintings of Shri Rama, Shri Swaminarayan, Ganesh, Shiva Parvati, Radha Krishna, Shri Jagannath, and Hanuman. His well known piece is Tirupati Balaji. Ashish Kansara has also painted for Muslim community, such as the Kaaba, and painted for the Jain community, Shri Mahavir.

Rogan Chhap

Ashish Kansara also does Rogan art prints; it is now rare to see Rogan art prints doing with thick castor oil paste. Same paste used in Rogan prints which one used in Rogan painting. Rogan art print done with brass Biba (Mould) (see image) and wooden stick. Brass Biba (Mould) made by Aari cutting. Different designs of Brass Biba (Mould) are made through Aari cutting (See video). After that, first, Rogan paste is filled in a brass Biba (Mould) and is put on cloth with pressure of a thick stick. The brass Biba’s design is now on cloth as a print. (See image) This technique is known as “Rogan Chhap” (Chhap means print). Also called as Rogan Nirmika Chhap. (Nirmika is a Sanskrit word, Nirmika means creation).

How to make Rogan painting paste

Rogan painting paste is produced by boiling Linseed oil or castor oil for 7 to 8 hours and then adding pigment Color and chowk powder, the resulting Linseed oil or castor oil transform into thick paste. The cloth that is painted is usually a dark color, which makes the intense colors stand out. In Rogan painting, the pattern is applied using metal blocks with patterns carved into them. In Rogan painting, elaborate designs are produced freehand, by trailing thread-like strands of paint off of a wood stylus. Frequently, half of a design is painted, then the cloth is folded in half, transferring a mirror image to the other half of the fabric. After that it decorates with small dots and lines.

Personal life – Rogan Art Painting By Ashish Kansara

Ashish Kansara now lives in Gujarat’s Kutch Madhapar is a very small village in Kutch. Ashish Kansara’s wife, Komal Kansara is also a Rogan artist. She learned Rogan art after her marriage. Komal teaches a small group of women to make Rogan art. There are 130 women in the group who are now working for Ashish Kansara.