"Feet, what do I need you for when I have wings to fly?"

The abovementioned thirteen-word quote from the world-famous Mexican artist Frida Kahlo might sound a bit supercilious at first reading - only to those, who haven't dive into the mesmerising world of the artist. The rest of the world has been fortunate to explore the art she left as examples of being marvellous, even though she painted while fighting through pain - a journey that she had to go through throughout her life. Across the world, there are numerous examples of such artists who have gone through a somewhat similar journey, with different types of physical and mental sufferings, discomfort and struggles - but at the end of the day, a true artist goes through the hurdles even without the assistance of feet or the imaginary wings but through the artistic spirit, to amuse the art admirers.

One such Bangladeshi artist is the Canadian expatriate artist Suranjana Bhattacharja, and her maiden solo exhibition titled 'Stitched Collage' has recently amused art admirers at the Alliance Française de Dhaka (AFD) from April 19 to April 27. 'Collage', as a technique or form of art is about two thousand years old which started in China after the invention of paper, and continued through the Middle Ages, in Japan as well as in Europe, before and after the Renaissance, in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, along with the Surrealist and Dada movements followed by Modern art. Great artists like Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, Henri Matisse and Wassily Kandinsky among many others did each collage in their way. Among these maestros, particularly Kandinsky's work has always been one of the principal sources of surprise, love and inspiration for Suranjana.

That being said, why did this article begin with the quote that defined the experience-turned-mental state and source of inspiration of Frida Kahlo, and what is the underlying correlation between both artists?

"I first left my home to settle in Paris, France with my husband (prominent Bangladeshi linguist, writer, columnist, and Professor of the French language at Dhaka University, Dr Shishir Bhattacharja) back in 1992 when he moved there for his MPhil studies. We came back to Bangladesh in 1996 and then once again moved to Montreal, Canada in 2003. Back in 2007 when we were living in Canada, I was stricken by Dystrophy - a rare, chronic disease and a myogenic disorder which affects the central nervous system, causing my left hand partly disabled, and eventually leading me to be partially paralyzed in 2014," Suranjana Bhattacharja told Dhaka Courier.

While already in pain with the newly found disease in her body, Suranjana lost her only younger brother, the late renowned Bangladeshi cinematographer Subrata Ripon in 2008. "Altogether, I was heartbroken and devastated and eventually fell into severe depression," Suranjana told DC about her tragic and painful experiences.

Ultimately, fortune led her into an unknown blessing in disguise, as she started to find solace in stitching clothes to express and symbolise her artistic visions. Born in Narayanganj but brought up in Chittagong and then in Narsingdi, Bangladesh - Suranjana had always a penchant for sewing and got training in a technical school run by the Bangladesh Government in Narshingdi in the late eighties. "I could not pursue much formal schooling in art here since I was married off at an early age; however, I attended courses overseas, particularly in Paris, where we lived from 1992 to 1996. I went to museums - especially the Louvre Museum where I was among the first visitors in the day and the last visitors at night, because I love exploring museums. I also met artists and several like-minded people in various ateliers during that time, exchanged thoughts and learned art without formal degrees," Suranjana reminisced about the beginning of her artistic journey.

Not only was she destined to be known for stitching collages on clothes, but she also had a rich musical background. "I studied music in Chhayanaut and hosted a regular monthly musical event at the AFD titled 'Classical Shondhya' (Classical Evening) from 1999-2003 before leaving for Canada. I was fortunate to invite the prominent and popular musical artists of that time on that two-hour musical program, and that remained a remarkable experience in my life," Suranjana told DC.

Fast forward to 2014, Suranjana started to create artwork with clothes when she was admitted to a hospital in Canada in 2014 and was able to only use her right hand. After she returned home from the hospital, she continued to create artworks, resulted to have more than a hundred artworks made in the past decade, among which 42 were exhibited in her recently concluded maiden solo exhibition.

"To be honest, I was hesitant to showcase my artworks in this exhibition. Shishir Bhattacharjee dada (eminent Bangladeshi cartoonist and Dhaka University Faculty of Fine Art Professor) inspired me for the exhibition, as he saw my artworks in our house and felt that I should display them in a public exhibition. No offense to anyone but I was afraid that people would consider and label my collage works as crafts, and I do not call them craftworks. Those are my art, and I want people to understand my works as artworks - and Shishir da further motivated me saying that I must move forward with this exhibition to showcase this differentiative thought," Suranjana shared the background of this exhibition.

Renowned art critic Moinuddin Khaled, eminent artist Syed Iqbal, DU Faculty of Fine Art Professor Shishir Bhattacharjee, popular author, physicist, academic, activist Prof Dr Muhammed Zafar Iqbal and eminent artist Monirul Islam attended the opening ceremony of the exhibition as the special guests, and even though Suranjana was elated with their presence - her world lit up when she found the satisfactory response of the general visitors. "While I am blessed that all these art maestros and eminent personalities came and visited my exhibition and further motivated me to continue my creative journey - my biggest achievement from this exhibition is the love and admiration I received from the general visitors and art admirers who seemed naturally understood and got connected with the artworks and my artistic visions. Aside from their appreciation, I also received souvenirs as a token of their love, and I cannot express how grateful I am," she expressed her gratitude to the visitors and admirers.

"My son, Rik Bhattacharja often tells me that I am way too concerned about my art, my collages - as he is the one in Canada who assists me during my work which I process from my bed, and he observed how much connected I am to these artworks. I live in Canada for half of the year and spend the rest of the months here in Bangladesh, based on the weather as I have to maintain a lot of health protocols which might not seem noticeable to everyone at first. Despite all of my traumatic experiences, I found solace in this artistic journey - and this solo exhibition once again made me realize that the love language of art is universal, and I want to continue pursuing my artistic endeavours through stitching collages," Suranjana Bhattacharja concluded this exclusive Dhaka Courier interview with gratitude.