NEW YORK, U.S.A., May 30, 2007: In the traditional way of India, Suhas Tavkar learned the art of fingernail embossing at the age of five years old from his father who had learned the art form from Suhas’s grandfather. After a career as a graphic artist in New York City, Tavkar is now focussing his ambitions on educating the public about fingernail embossing or NakhaChitra as it is known in Sankrit. The article explains, “NakhaChitra is one of the World’s rarest art forms. Embossing by hand allows Suhas to produce the most intricate and truly unique embossed designs on paper or foil. Yet, as he says, his work is a ‘daunting, irksome and painful’ fine art of Bas-Relief. Each fingernail embossing takes tremendous concentration and precise hand-eye coordination. But the beauty of the art is that each work is an original, a one-of-a-kind piece of artwork. With this technique, if a single line or impression fails to satisfy him, it cannot be undone; it is permanent. In other words, the whole piece has to begin anew. Art using one’s fingernails may have started long time ago, with fingernail embossing perhaps beginning when humans started to make paper. Suhas describes himself as a unique and gifted artist who can create fine sculptural art without using any artistic materials or tools, just his very own fingernails.”
Suhas Tavkar will be showcasing his art form at the New York Public Library Donnell Center from June 9 to July 6, 2007. The new release mentions two websites where samplings of Tavkar’s work can be found at here and here. Suhas can also be contacted by email at suhas@nakhachitra.com.