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Dr Akhter Hussain
This doctor turned graphic artist is inspired by faces!
Distinguished graphic artist Dr Akhter Hussain’s exhibition ‘Pigments and Piworks’ showcasing his works will be held from March 1-5, at Chitrakala Parishad. Noted theatre personality Mrs Arundhati Nag, well known artist BKS Verma and veteran art Critic Rauf Ahmed will inaugurate the exhibition. In an interview to TWB, artist, photographer, digital graphicologist and orthodontist, Dr Hussain talks of his life and works:
How did a doctor end up as an artist?
Even as a young boy, I had this fancy for sketching whatever I took a liking for, using new materials and methods, mixing toothpaste with paints for texture, face cream for luster. I never went to any art school, but soon this fancy for sketching became an intense passion.
My father wanted me to be a doctor, whereas I wanted to be an artist. As fate would have it, I ended up in between – as an orthodontist!
Tell us something about your professional life?
I am professor and head, department of orthodontics and dental/facial orthopedics as well as secretary of the governing council of the prestigious Yenepoya Medical and Dental colleges, Mangalore, apart from my private practice. I have also been an active council member of the Indian Orthodontic Society, and its President for one year.
Where does the doctor in you meet his art?
An orthodontist is primarily an artist. My profession is about creating beautiful smiles and correcting the abnormalities in human face. Faces inspire me! The creation of human face – the proportions involved in its creation, its infinite variations, racial differences our perception of beauty and its social implications.
What about your present works?
I work on various themes in photography, graphic art as well as traditional mediums, and visual art, which is basically a synergy between aesthetics and creative imagination. I look at the unperceived and un-elucidated mysteries and intricacies of nature and bring it into the digital canvas through photography. From oil to acrylic, from pigments to pixels, from photography to graphic art, I engage the world of art in all its creative dimensions.
What about the awards and recognitions that have come your way?
I was chosen as the Associate of the Royal Photographic Society, UK. I have been lucky recipient of several awards, such as winner of the Maruti Esteem Photo contest,1999, second position in computer-enhanced category of Jan 2000 Great Pic Contest conducted by Popular Photography, New York, Commonwealth Photo Award 2002, first place in Agfa International photo contest 2003 (motion and speed category), International Photo Award (IPA) under Non-Professional, Advertising category 2004, Los Angeles, Honorable mention in Professional category in International Photo Award (IPA) 2004, Los Angeles, Travel Photographer of the Year 2004, conducted by Konika Minolta, Honorable mention in Lightly Manipulated section, Adobe Digital Imaging Competition, 2004, Honorable mention in Photo Illustration section, Adobe Digital Imaging Competition, 2004, Final rounds on International Mazda Photo Contest, February 2004, Winner of the 2005 Epson Color Imaging Contest, in both “Nature” and “Human Life” categories, Japan, appeared in Doordarshan Television National Broadcast on works of Art and Photography, selected for final round, in The Prix de la photographie, Paris, 2007.
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