Draft:Ashish Kansara

Biography

Ashish Kansara

Tree of life

Traditional rogan art lehenga

Brass Biba for Rogan print

Printing with brass biba

Ashish 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. Ashish Kansara learned Rogan art from Ashok Bhai Valjibhai from Patan, Gujarat. He started working professionally in Rogan art when he was 19 years old (1994/95). He worked with the traditional lehenga and 4-metre short sari, which is a traditional wedding dress for the Bharavad and Rabari communities. Ashish Kansara took a hiatus from Rogan painting in 2001, after the Kachchh earthquake, as Rogan art lehengas and saris lost demand. After some years, he started Rogan art again, this time focusing on other type of Rogan art painting products, such as home décor, wall pieces, dresses, wallets, kurtas, and blouses and Rogan art sarees.

Rogan art

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. Ashish Kansara one an only artisan who made portrait in Rogan art.

Rogan Chhap

Ashish Kansara also does Rogan art prints; (Traditional name is Rogan Nirmika Chhap) 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 art. Rogan art print done with brass Biba (Mould) and wooden stick. Brass Biba (Mould) made by Aari cutting. Different designs of Brass Biba (Mould) are made through Aari cutting. 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. 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 art, the pattern is applied using metal blocks with patterns carved into them. In Rogan art, 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.