Sukraat

Printmaker and artist Sukraat speaks to us about finding his way to art, discovering printmaking by chance after school, and realising he had finally stepped onto the path meant for him. What began as a suggestion from his father after a difficult academic journey soon grew into a defining moment when his elder brother connected deeply with his first hand-pulled print. That early encouragement shaped everything that followed. After years in production design, he returned to printmaking during the pandemic and committed to it completely.

In our conversation, he shares how each work is built through an intricate process that can involve dozens of layers and almost a month of living closely with the print as it evolves. His technical rigour exists alongside an emotional world where he sings, dances and sometimes bleeds into the piece. Music is woven through his practice and often sparks the words that become his titles. His philosophy, ‘Dreams are all I have and now I print them’, emerged during a solitary winter in Nainital, where creating was the only way to move through shifting memories and hopes. More below.
 
How did your interest in printmaking spark? Take us right back to the beginning of your roots with prints.
 I don’t know how many people still believe that we are meant to do what we are meant to do, but I feel one has to be aligned enough to recognise when a path is calling. I believe the same happened to me with printmaking. I was never particularly good at anything and struggled through much of my early life, often beaten by my mother and by many tutors I went to, haha. After completing my 12th grade, when my marks were too low to pursue most conventional paths, my father suggested that I try art. I did and I enjoyed it.

When the time came to choose a specialisation, I chose printmaking. That was when I realised I might have found my way in life. When my elder brother, whom I deeply admire, connected strongly with one of my prints, and decided to buy the first hand-pulled print I ever made, titled Looking Past, it became a defining moment and a catalyst at the beginning of my journey. Everything changed after I graduated. I needed to earn and help support my family, so I moved into production design, where I worked for many years. Then, COVID happened. During that time, I returned to hand-pulled printmaking. That was the moment I made a firm decision this is what I am meant to do. Since then, I have dedicated myself entirely to making prints.

What is your creative process like? 
There is both a technical and an emotional part to my process. The technical process begins with the registration of the block, followed by attaching the paper to it. I draw directly on the block, then apply colour, take a print, wipe the block, and carve away the sections meant to retain that colour. I repeat this entire process again and again. To create a single work, I usually build between thirteen and twenty five layers, which means repeating the same process that many times. In one print, I have gone up to forty nine layers using a single block.

The emotional process unfolds alongside this long and demanding technical journey. A single print can take up to a month to complete, and during this time I live closely with the work. I sing in front of it, sleep beside it, and wake up to it. I have danced in front of my prints, cried in front of them, and at times lost myself in them. The work becomes a part of me because I give myself completely to it. Occasionally, when I accidentally cut myself while working, I allow that blood to enter the work by applying a drop or two. I maintain a bank of ideas in the form of titles or rough sketches. After completing a work, I wait until something strikes me again. Sometimes it happens while strumming a guitar; sometimes during long, debauched nights. Once the idea hits, I return to printmaking and re-enter the technical process.

Since you are a musician as well, is there any overlap between the two art forms you practice?
Music and art are the same to me; they are both forms of emotional release. While composing, I often sing spontaneously. Once I find a tune I connect with, I start vocalising freely, and in that process I stumble upon certain words. Those words often become the title, and from there I develop the idea into a hand-pulled print.
 
What is one rule you’d break for your art?
There are no rules when one is creating.
 
You say ‘Dreams are all I have and now I print them.’ Could you elaborate on this philosophy?
'Dreams Are All I Have' came to me while I was working alone in my Nainital house during the winters of 2022. I had nothing with me except my art supplies and my thoughts. When you are by yourself like that, all you really have are your dreams. Your mind moves constantly through the past, present, and future, creating an intense emotional turbulence. As a printmaker, the only thing I could do was translate those emotions onto paper. Thus came the philosophy: ‘Dreams are all I have and now I print them.’

A project that is very close to your heart?
A project close to my heart is called Her House. It is a love story that ended, and is the final piece in the series that I am currently working on.
 
What are you working on now and what is the future looking like?
The future looks too bright to look into right now, haha!

Words Neeraja Srinivasan
Date 16.12.2025