Artist in the Making
By: Mohd. Irfan Bhat
Mohd. Irfan Bhat is a promising artist from Valley who represents Kashmir in his own unique way. From district Pulwama’s Wanpora vicinity Irfan is making his name in the field of Sculpting. Born in an Artisan family he enjoyed making clay pots in his childhood. In a statement he said, “When I was a child I loved to make clay pots I enjoyed molding clay into different forms. Playing with clay gave me an immense pleasure”. Adding that, “When I was in my 10th class one of my cousins who is in music department of Institute of Music and Fine Arts College told me about this field and it gave me a direction I was looking for and after completing my 12th in 2011 I applied for admission in Fine Arts College”. Irfan did his Bachelors in Fine Arts Sculpture from Institute of Music and Fine Arts Srinagar and completed his masters in the same field from Jamia Millia Islamia New Delhi in 2019.
Irfan’s work is a transcription of his own perception of events happening around him. In his sculptures he uses different mediums including metal wire, bandages, paper, fiber glass and many more. Irfan is not shy of showing the ugly face of conflict that surrounds places like Kashmir. In one of his work titled ‘Cradle’ he shows the consequence of being born in a troubled environment like that of Kashmir. A Cradle made up of toy guns with its rails and legs wrapped in bandage and slogans which we see on the roadside walls of Kashmir written on it. 
About the work Irfan said, “If we talk about beauty, Kashmir is fascinating but the disturbing environment has overpowered its beauty. For me I think when a child is born in Kashmir the first thing he/she sees is a gun and the first audacious sound he/she perceives is of slogans. This work is all about the traumatic situation that conflict has created.”
Irfan has participated in various state and national art events and his work has been exhibited in different parts of the country. He has received many awards for his influential sculptures. Irfan is currently working as an Art teacher at Doon International School HMT Srinagar.
