Describing ‘The Scream’ as the ‘Mona Lisa’ of our times, Samanta was haunted by this work and intrigued by how difficult it is to define our emotions in present times. He created five works in this series, referring to ‘The Scream’ as a symbol depicting anything from cheer or excitement, to anguish, protest, grief or a face-off of emotion and time. Scream I, dominated by fur, is a portrait of a woman with the soft white texture behaving as a metaphor for laughter. The portrait completes itself without any details, but just the suggestion of form.

Written by Veeranganakumari Solanki Jamwal, Portraits in Time, 2016