Bhubaneswar, Sept. 1: Octogenarian artist Banambar Nayak has been working for decades on wooden sculptures that are a fusion of the traditional and the contemporary.

Now, an art lover from Jaipur has collected the 83-year-old's works and this has helped the artist going through tough times.

Originally a carpenter, Nayak, who hails from Pateli Pratapramchandrapur village near Puri, is a self-taught artist who passion for wooden sculptures began as a youth. The traditional works of Puri artists had played the Muse for Nayak.

"I would see the traditional carpenters of the Puri Jagannath temple creating wooden idols and miniatures of humans and animals for rath yatra. I loved seeing how much more could be made with wood than just furniture," said the artist.

"I believe that humour is a very important part of life as well as art. As a young boy, I would try my hand at creating sculptures of men and women with funny facial expressions and unusual stance," he said.

Nayak's works are impressive in many ways - right from the use of caps or crowns for each of his sculptures to the choice of colours.

He said nature has also been a major influence for him and it is reflected in his sculptures. Despite having faced financial setbacks due to floods, Nayak never gave up his passion for the art form. He kept making the sculptures even though there were few takers for his work.

However, there is no one to carry forward Nayak's legacy as his three sons do not practice the art form.

The recent interest in Nayak's works happened when the hosts of the Raghurajpur International Art and Cultural Exchange festival met him. Impressed with his creations, they posted about the sculptor along with the pictures of works on their website.

"We received many responses for his works. Mamta Mansingh from Jaipur, who is collecting works of art from different parts of the country for a museum she is building back home, came down here and bought all his works," said Kshitish Das, an organising member of Raghurajpur International Art and Cultural Exchange. Mansingh paid Rs 1 lakh for the works of Nayak.

"His works are really unique and I will try to promote them among art lovers in other states. I will try to keep in touch with him and send him a small pension every month," said Mansingh.