Odisha sand artist puts up paintings for auction to fund fight against COVID-19

Bhubaneswar: Internationally-acclaimed sand artist from Odisha, Sudarshan Pattnaik on Monday said he has put on auction five of his sand art-on-canvas paintings to raise funds for the fight against novel coronavirus.

The amount raised from the auction will be donated to the PM-Cares Fund and the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund (CMRF), Odisha, said Pattnaik.

The artist has posted photographs of the paintings on Twitter.

He said three of the paintings, named ”Beauty on the stone”, ”Our thought for the environment” and ”Sea king” are based on his sand artworks in Germany.

The other two paintings ”Sleeping beauty” and ”Universal peace” are based on his artworks in Turkey and China.

“As an artist, I thought of doing my part to stand with the nation. I have put on auction my sand art-on-canvas paintings to raise funds to fight COVID-19. Those interested can DM (direct message) me on Twitter.

“So far, I have received many direct messages. I am waiting for the best prices for the paintings,” Pattnaik said.

Honoured with several awards, Pattnaik has created many sand sculptures on issues of social importance.

He has also created sculptures on the fight against COVID-19 and the need to wear masks and maintain social distancing.

Pattnaik said he had planned to organise exhibitions of 50 of his artworks in various cities in February and March.

His plan had to be put on hold due to the coronavirus outbreak.

(PTI)