He is a Kolkata-based ace maxillofacial surgeon who picks up the paintbrush in a surgical precision to leave a mark of his own style and statement of aesthetics on either the facial landscape or across the canvas. For Dr Srijon Mukherji’s brush dances in perfect harmony with the surgical blade.
Like the knife cuts an impression over the faces in cosmetic surgery, so does his palette make an imprint of his chosen colours, strokes, lines drawn — straight or curved — over the pallid canvas. Not conventionally trained, Dr Mukherji is a self-taught artist who is currently showcasing his first solo exhibition at the city’s prestigious Chitrakoot Art Gallery. The display will be on for public view till November 12 from 3 pm to 8 pm, daily.
Probe him on the medical term that he is so skilfully expertised in and the accomplished doctor politely obliges with an explanation: “Well, oral and maxillofacial surgery is an operative speciality concerned with the diagnosis and treatment of diseases affecting the mouth, jaws, face and neck. But there is a beauteous and cosmetic aspect to it.”
While it could be a riddle to map out the secret-route behind a successful surgeon, Dr Mukherji emphasises that it was his father’s genes that did the trick for him. “My father Samaresh Mukherji was a distinguished artiste and has been quite a reputed name in the field of advertising. May be, the talent has been genetically transfused,” he said.