He can walk into any busy hotel of Patna and people may not realise that they are seeing one of the most famous Biharis whose fame transcends borders. Meet Subodh Gupta, among the most sought-after artists of the modern era, whose works fetch record amounts at auctions. Gupta is best known for incorporating in his art everyday objects such as steel tiffin boxes, bicycles and milk pails. When Bihar was reeling from the Kosi deluge in 2008, the internationally acclaimed artist raised

Rs 4 crore to help the suffering people. “When the tragedy occurred I thought I must do something for my home state,” he remarked.

But Gupta, 47, vividly remembers Patna — the city from where he graduated before shifting to Delhi. “I also used to work in the theatre and have performed several times at the Kalidas Rangalaya,” he recalled while speaking to Dipak Mishra of The Telegraph. Gupta, known as the Damien Hirst of India, was on a short private visit to his home state. “I have visited Bihar after a gap of one year. The last visit was also too short to go anywhere,” he said.

The Telegraph: Would you like to visit Bihar more frequently? I plan to make my next trip to Bihar when I can see my home state visually. I want to travel to Bodhgaya and Nalanda and even the rural school where I did my schooling from. I keep hearing about Bihar changing under Nitish Kumar. I would like to feel it.

Do you get your artistic impulse from Bihar? I am a Bihari and nobody can take that away from me. But art is all about ideas. I do not want to be known as a Bihari or even an Indian artist. I want to be known as an international artist.

What do you remember about the time you were leaving Bihar? I left Patna in 1989-90. After graduating from College of Arts and Crafts, Patna, somebody told me that I should meet Russi Modi, who was then chairman of Tata Steel. It took me one year to meet him and I had to shuttle between Calcutta and Jamshedpur. Like any Bihari student graduating from Patna I did not know how to speak in English. But I finally managed to meet Modi and he sponsored me and my work got displayed at Chitrakoot gallery (Calcutta) and Wendy. What can one do in Bihar? If you had to swim you had to move out.

What do you remember about College of Arts and Crafts, Patna? In my days there were students who were very good in their art form. I had the opportunity to learn from my fellow students. I do not know if the same atmosphere prevails there today. There has been a definite loss of art in Bihar. We need art galleries and art lovers here. I am willing to help my college by bringing in well-known artists to give lectures and slide shows. It’s my dream. But College of Arts and Crafts, Patna is a government institute and there will be a lot of bureaucracy. But the principal is a batch mate of mine and I am willing to support him.

There is a Subodh Gupta from Bihar once in a millennium. What about the future? There has to be a determination. One has to understand the forms of art. It is not easy. Simply painting and selling your art form is not enough. When I started I had the opportunity to be with painters like MF Husain and Manjit Bawa. But I did not want to imitate them. I wanted to develop my own art. So I changed my art form. It is difficult to change your art. I ended up doing bad art for three or four years. But I got a help from a lady who had studied in England. She helped me to look at art from her perspective. I have learnt my art through art.

What about competition among artists? It’s a world of Internet where art is changing. I want to create my art in Geneva, Shanghai, New York. I still draw and give the idea. But the colours are filled by my assistants. Art is changing and 10 years from now if I still can create art which has a global acknowledgement, I will be happy.