3D Drawings: It is possible for a viewer to experience a sense of elevation and descent if he/she follows lines that go upward and downward. It gives a feeling that you are hiking or climbing mountains. I got this inspiration from my trekking and climbing the mountains. Mountains can teach us about philosophies of life; climbing mountains does not mean that you always climb up. Sometimes you go down and climb up again to reach the top. Similarly, life has many ups and downs but still, we are in process of reaching our goals.
Ongoing: Series of Maps, Borders & Places: Crumpled paper for me is a metaphor of the earth which doesn’t have a flat surface. There are hills, mountains, valleys; myriad up and downs. This art work conveys the truth about maps, borders and places. The lines are abstract; line itself has abstract narration and together with other lines it creates fictional maps or borders of unknown places. There are few crumpled lines left incomplete because I am yet to discover those maps or borders.
2018: Series of Discovered lines turned as maps, shapes, forms and boundaries: I extended the materiality of the print medium to create virtual contours and linear graphs that map imaginary loci and places. Relying on scrunching the paper as a means to initiate cathartic release, the process spontaneously creates dimensions beyond the surface of the plane. The accidental lines morph into unspecified shapes forms and maps allowing multiple readings – the markings could be representations of metaphorical sites or subconscious points of reference. The material and the medium combine to form layers of meanings within conceptual maps.
My New Location
“My New Location”:In my opinion, art can be an expression or a self-reflection of an individual’s journey. In the reading Lure of Locale by author Lucy Lippard dais, an element such as a “Place” has influenced her life deeply in comparison to the people around her. Putting myself in her shoes, this art here is my own conversation with the author’s statement as we share a similar journey of experiences. I was born in a small village in South India and later migrated to a close-by city named Hyderabad. I lived in Hyderabad for a period of 4 years pursuing my undergraduate major in Painting and Art. After graduation, I moved to another city in the north-western part of India called Baroda to pursue a Master’s in Printmaking. This is the city I spent 13 years practicing art and getting inspired by multiple sources of interactions. Baroda as a city and its culture has a unique vibe and I connected to the city’s culture both physically and spiritually. There was a significant contrast with the previous city I lived in. Currently, I have moved to Madison, Wisconsin to pursue a dream and explore my passion for arts further. Just like the diverse contours of the landscape in this art here, every city and the process of living in a city provide a plethora of visual, emotional, verbal, and non-verbal episodes that become vital experiences in an individual’s journey. I look forward to such experiences and relate to my surrounding through my artistic expressions.