Arpan’s artistic practice emerges from the dystopian reality of isolation and the primitive human behaviours of hatred and greed that transform emotions and relationships into tools for capital gains and consumer desires. His work critiques the collision of personal beliefs with the invasive nature of brand-oriented capitalism and consumerism that dominate our daily experiences. Growing up in a family reliant on a small grocery shop in a Kolkata suburb, Arpan witnessed consumerism intimately. His discontent does not adopt an anti-consumerist or anti-capitalist stance but instead seeks to unveil the dissonance beneath the glossy facade of marketing and brand-building. His artworks reflect this duality: vibrant, sweet colours, often muted into darker, melancholic hues, symbolize the contrast between aspirational branding and the stark realities of middle-income households, whose dreams these brands exploit. Arpan’s exploration of monetized emotions and desires manifests in phantasmagorical characters inhabiting dreary, distorted spaces. These disfigured figures, shaped through caricature and abstraction, parody consumerist behaviours, highlighting the gap between advertised perfection and lived realities. Accompanying these figures are visual elements inspired by colloquial gods, religious practices, and texts from poetry or banners of local shops—common in Bengal’s suburban landscape. These textual elements serve as both a critique and an acknowledgement of an alternative consumerist practice, one where human relationships coexist with economic aspirations. Through his works, Arpan navigates the interplay between the seductive allure of consumerism and the isolation it fosters. His artistic language critiques the commercialization of human emotions while presenting a layered narrative that embraces the complexity of aspiration, identity, and cultural heritage.