[dih-pahr-cher] departure brings together seven young artists, who are in the process of taking off on their individual careers. Hailing from different parts of the country, the common thread tying their practice together is that, even though most of them work with traditional mediums, all of them have rejected the conventional methods of image making. Dealing with a piece of paper or canvas they allow varied influences, reasoning and self-questionings to mould the medium according to their needs without any restrictions.
Ghanashyam Latua works with paper and watercolor, creating a tactile, braille-like surface by punching the paper with different types of self-made sharp needles. This adds another dimension to the viewing experience. Working on similar lines, Kalpana Vishwas’s meticulous watercolors of foliage textures on shaped and hand-cut papers create interesting islands within the painted areas. In this way the artist is able to juxtapose real space with imagined ones in her works. Arpita Akhanda works across mediums and genres and performance art is an integral aspect of her practice. Hence, her paper weavings, dealing with migration, created from archival photographs incorporate performative gestures. Creating a painting using tie and dye method is a challenge which Ujjal Dey, who has studied textile art, takes on with ease. By using natural dyes, rust, embroidery and kalamkari processes, he creates interesting abstract visuals on soft fabrics.
Janhavi Khemka a trained printmaker, creates unique works by combining printmaking, installations and stop-motion videos. A physically challenged artist, Khemka creates masterful painterly prints by making multiple colours which can sometimes go up to sixty colours. This adds a new dimension to printmaking, which I feel is otherwise a saturated medium. Ruma Choudhury has been working with various natural fiber papermaking processes and uses this to create her body of work in which she incorporates textures and natural materials to create different organically shaped objects. Intaz Ansari is the youngest amongst this lot, he also works with paper pulp and creates his works by taking impressions of real objects which leave marks, turning these into pictorial elements of the work.
I hope departure will be able to give a refreshed viewing experience to the art lovers of the city.
