On the Art Radar – Col. Virendra Rawat
One can really not expect something as creative as a piece of art from an individual who has served in the Indian Army. But that is the magic of art, it can allure any individual in this world in a sense that they intermingle it with their soul and keep it entrenched in their heart forever! Such is the story of Col. Virendra Rawat, who served for years in the Indian Army with all his heart but a corner of his heart was always reserved for his love for art. It will seem a little funny if we tell you that Col. Rawat was never really interested in arts. However, somewhere by default, he jumped into it and started liking the new venture. And it is funnier that he even failed one of his tests in arts. With time, his interest grew into art and he started winning prizes for his artwork. There came a time when he started using paper as a medium to portray his art and it grew in a way that it became his passion. Paper collage art, that uses an amalgam of different paper in order to create an artwork is one of the most popular forms of art today.
The beauty of an artwork that uses no original colors to bring in colors to a work is extraordinary. This unique form of art has an ethereal sense of its own as it uses no actual color to create an art of the canvas. Paper collage art is curated by using small bits and pieces of paper to represent something. Beautiful, lively and unusual art concepts are brought into life with paper collage art and that is what makes it stand out of all the other forms of art that are out there. Like they say, art brings in evolution, Col. Virendra Rawat’s journey too, evolved through the years and it framed out so beautifully that we today have him as one of the best Paper Collage Artists in the nation. Moreover, he also has a great interest in other art forms like oil paintings.
Using papers to create something distinct has an altogether different meaning in the world of art today. Surely, it is not as easy as splashing a couple of colors on a sheet of paper but requires a bigger vision that turns out some pieces of papers into work of art. However, Col. Virendra Rawat himself agreed on the fact that even if a paper collage art is initiated with a vision, it turns out to be just opposite of what he has in mind. To some artists, it may seem like a hit and trial method but for an artist like him who has gained so much experience through the years in the field of art, it gets easier to bring out his vision.
Well, we still wonder how his passion for art got so strong while he was serving the nation for 33 long years. He clearly states that he didn’t leave his art even for a single day. Even if he was short of time from his work, he tried giving a minimum of 15 minutes to art each day. Moreover, he used to carry his art kit like all other essentials with him wherever he got posted and this speaks loud of his passion for art.
His work reflects not only great art but also the soul of an artist who carries his love for art in his heart everywhere he goes. His work is beautifully placed in various Army Academies and home spaces of notable personalities like Amitabh Bachchan, Lata Mangeshkar, also Late Renowned Legendary Bollywood Actor Raj Kapoor among others. He has also worked on portraits of public figures like Indira Gandhi, which he presented to his son Rajiv Gandhi. While paper collage as a modern form of art may have given us a variety of definitions through the years, it is because of artists like Col. Rawat that we get to see a vision that is unconventional and it is quite visible in his work.
Adding to his achievements, there is something extremely close to Rawat’s heart. Col. Rawat used his paper collage art to create the Iconic Chetwode Hall Building at Indian Military Academy Dehradun. The building holds a special place in the heart of every officer who passes through IMA. Rawat gifted this creation to the academy today at a special event.
Not missing out on more from his personal life, Virendra Rawat hails from Kotdwar, Uttarakhand. Now settled in Dehradun, Col. Rawat is a second generation officer in the army. His children picked up the defense as their career. While his son is a naval officer, his daughter is married to an army officer.
