Kuhoo Mitra is an aspiring illustrator with ability and promise. She is only 21 years old, yet she has demonstrated distinction and merit from an early age.

 She told us she knew she wanted to pursue a profession in visual arts at the age of four or five during a news conference at the Calcutta Rowing Club. She would create her drawings of characters and scenes after reading a lot of children’s books and being inspired by their illustrations. Her parents have always supported her artistic endeavors. She grew up going with them to a lot of art galleries, such as Birla Academy and the Academy of Fine Arts, and she was always inspired by the pieces she saw.

She entered art competitions regularly. Her artwork was frequently published in The Telekids. She once took home the top honors in the newspaper’s annual Children’s Day competition when she was just six years old. At the age of 14, she was also awarded the Regional Winner trophy in an All India Art competition organized by INTACH (2017–2018).

From nursery to class 12, she attended the Modern High School for Girls in Kolkata. She was greatly encouraged to pursue illustration as a vocation by her teachers. She was chosen to be a member of the Design Team for the school magazine and participated in numerous inter-school festivals as the school’s representative.

She also shared with us her experiences experimenting with various media at school, including charcoal, acrylics, watercolors, pen and ink, and graphite. She originally learned how to perform linocut printing in school, a skill she still enjoys greatly and uses often.

She primarily uses colored pencils, gouache, and watercolors in her work these days. She also uses silkscreen and linocut for printmaking.

Her first inspiration for art came from children’s books. She has read a great deal ever since she was able to read. She discovered new universes and was transported to locations she had never heard of or seen before thanks to the illustrations in those books.

She lamented the dearth of Bengali-language picture books with illustrations. She went on to say that Bengali culture is still comparatively underrepresented in picture books written in English, despite the picture book industry’s growing diversity. She therefore aspires to create picture books with Bengali protagonists for young readers and adults that highlight the distinctive facets of Bengali culture. She has previously written and illustrated a fifteen-page Bengali book about Durga Puja, which she handbound and silkscreened.

Following her high school graduation in 2021, Kuhoo traveled to New York City to enroll in the School of Visual Arts, NYC, where she was awarded a partial scholarship to pursue a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Illustration. Her final year will start in the autumn, having just finished her third. Her growth as an artist is greatly influenced by her schooling there. She considers herself fortunate to be studying under renowned illustrator professors and to live in a city with numerous museums, such as the MET and MoMA.

In 2018, Kuhoo began her career as a freelance illustrator while still attending school in Kolkata. She did so by drawing the cover of a book of Bengali poems named “সময়ের চোখে” written by Subhanu Mitra. She created the cover art for Shreya Ghosh’s collection of Bengali short stories, ওদের গল্প, in 2020.

Kuhoo organized her debut exhibition in Kolkata. She has selected a range of pieces to display, varying in size, style, and subject matter. She has incorporated mixed media, charcoal, acrylic, pen and ink, gouache, and linocut pieces, among other mediums. In addition, three self-made books were on display by her. All three of the book’s drawings, fonts, designs, and bindings are all her own.

Breaking down prejudices about Bengalis, honoring Bengali customs, cuisine, and culture, and talking about the history of Bengal and the Indian subcontinent are some of the topics Kuhoo plans to cover in her next books and pictures.

Priyanka Dutta