2. Title-Untitled, Size- 12.8 inchesx 9 inches, Medium-Ink on Paper & textile, framed in found wooden ornate vintage frame, Year-2023, Artist-Meghna Singh Patpatia
The exhibition And Then Came Spring... brings together five contemporary artists and their myriad ways of experimenting with nuances of materiality. Each of the artists look at aspects of their surroundings – ecology, nature, dreamscapes, femininity among others through the lens of their unique artistic practice. In a world that has been altered by disorder and malady, spring represents renewal and hope.
As an artist harbouring a close proximity with nature, Meera George has always been sensitive to the issues of environmental deterioration that plague humankind. Meera’s circular compositions imbued with a feeling of a surrealist dreamscape is constructed through mixed media exhibiting textures and flow of colours reminiscent of aquatic lifeforms, flora and fauna. Meera also presents Cor Maris, a collection of mixed media sculptural assemblages from the shores of the Mediterranean. The works are created from pieces of driftwood and found objects washed up by the sea, that the artist collected and carefully treated to create her works. Her sensitive artworks respond to the state of our seas and the evolution of life forms as a result of man-made waste that has affected the larger ecosystem today. As the artist reflects on the present status of our environment drawing parallels between the world that lies below the waters and the larger cosmos, her microscopic cellular imagery invents a new species projecting a hope for rejuvenation or origin of a new ecosystem.
While Meera George sets into motion the discourse on our current environmental situation, Meghna Singh Patpatia takes it further by drawing on the synergies of natural and man-made elements. Her artworks, composed of pen and ink fused with textile and wood fascinate us into a pre-historic aeon comprising of sentient beings and natural forms that exist in a surrealist portal. Through her artistic practice, she explores ecological issues through the construction of a dream-like mise en scène with elements of myths and fantasy through careful experimentation with ink drawings on textured bases constructed from her chosen medium, layering of rice paper. Mahima Kapoor also experiments with layering to exhibit a vast visual depth through her paintings as well as sculptural installation work. Mahima views the world around her through an artistic lens often finding herself in nature drawing inspiration from it. Being a process-driven artist, Mahima works with different mediums and materials ranging from watercolours to prints to metal sculptures. She captures the versatility of each medium emanating from a perspective where her emotions and thoughts come together with the fragility of nature that she draws inspiration from.
Resonance; Pen, Colored Pencil and Graphite on Acid Free Paper 12 x 16 inches 2018
Exploring the intricacies of the human body linked spiritually to the larger cosmos, Sukanya Garg’s artistic practice is deeply influenced by her journey with healing and her interactions with nature in the process. Her visual language composed of layered mixed media, holds conceptual significance as she takes into account the constantly changing environment that surrounds us and the way the human body responds to it. Sukanya explores the fragility of our existence and unconscious connections between hope through the medium of art. Vandana Kothari is fascinated by the variety of sub-narratives that form the basis of our routine experiences. Through her iconic visual language composed of dots, she explores the idea of an image, bordering on abstraction and representation. Her exposure to diverse cultural and social milieu in her developing years as an artist highly impacts her works which are multi-layered. Vandana also looks inward through the vivacity of her imagery reflecting as metaphors for her thoughts and feelings as an artist. She believes in incorporating different visual styles to create works that present a multi-faceted overview on the world.
Through their vast and diverse visual practices, the artists in this exhibition present a rejuvenated perspective on the existing phenomenon of humankind that they explore through various mediums. The distinct qualities of each medium plays a key role in bringing forward the ethos that the artists represent. As Gerhard Richter has rightly quoted, “Art is the highest form of hope.” And Then Came Spring... brings forward the idea as artists navigate the issues of today.
Date 05-04-2023