My paintings and sculptural installations attempt to deal with the “sense of loss” that is predominant within oneself as one surveys and participates within the systems and structures of a “developing” city. One cannot but feel every so often, that the collective memories of the people of this ‘developing' city are being steadily erased to the extent that one day, even the monstrous monumental structures created around us will look convincingly beautiful!
Many questions arise in one's mind as one walks the busy streets of this ‘developing' city that has seen change in the most drastic sense of the term. That this change provides jobs to many as a result of the economic boom is altogether another matter. And then one wonders if all that is happening in the name of development is right at all! If it is right, then for whom is it right?
One is always tempted to go back in time and change the course of things that have happened to one's environment. At the same time, one wants to not get nostalgic and get lost in the ‘good times' one has had. Nevertheless, one does take a dive into the deep sea of memories and feel a ‘sense of loss'.
My work has a predominant image of an ancient sculpture/object that is surrounded by the reflections, supposedly from tinted glass, which is often the foremost and fore-ground part of a “developing” city's architecture. These reflections represent contemporary life/ transient life juxtaposed with the timelessness in the central image.
The installations/sculptures are attempts at creating the sense of confinement that the ‘past' is subjected to; at the same time it is ‘presented' in a cold, inaccessible manner. My work is not an attempt to demonise the present but a presentation of a situation / context that I feel strongly about. |
