Phase-I
“To Navigate: setting in motion some responses to this pandemic and change”
Delhi, India
The work created in Delhi during early lockdown was between two spaces that have shaped me in equal proportions but in very distinct ways in my early years. The first is my studio which is constantly in motion and state of change. The second is a home in a busy commercial and residential area of Greater Kailash also in South Delhi and serves as a separation of space between my family and personal lives.
The building in GK is an anomaly for this location, which is rapidly witnessing glass and steel “builder” apartments mushrooming on the busy main road and even the tighter back streets of Greater Kailash. The house that was built in the 60’s is still intact, and there is no desire to “modernise” it.
The home/ site is located on a main road connecting 5 blocks in the busy neighbourhood of GK and is particularly relevant to this project, as it is a space which engages with the 'passer-by' as an audience, beyond formal spaces. The building serves as part of the work.
Fermented paintings - moving image-I
A painting on a 16 feet long scroll from my ongoing work on mapping landscapes was created at the start of the Pandemic in my studio in Delhi, using form and material naturally available. Leaves from the garden, natural pigment, leftover paint informed the making of this painting.
The scroll installed on the façade of my residence in G.K 1, New Delhi. For the first 3 months of the extreme lockdown Delhi was a ghost city, but as life slowly resumed to normal – the painting was left hanging to be affected by pollution, weather, decay, birds & bats – all elements found in a bustling part of a metropolis. Personal circumstances had led me to evacuate India in June, and I wanted to leave this artwork installed and embody the city as it unraveled after lockdown over the next few months, whilst I was away. The scroll was my documentation device of sorts, witnessing the slow and fast changes as Delhi opened up.
Fermented paintings scroll - installed on the facade of artist's residence in New Delhi from June - December 2020
Fermented paintings - part I
Oil, pigment, graphite, charcoal, gold leaf on canvas
"As it was seen around the world when lockdowns began, balconies and terraces as spaces were used to express solidarity, practices and daily habits. This project too, seeks to use home/ immediate spaces as central, with a hope for connection and bringing our fragmented and virtual lives together."
Himani Gupta
Fermented paintings - part II
Oil, pigment, graphite, charcoal, gold leaf on canvas
Fermented paintings - part III
Oil, pigment, graphite, charcoal, gold leaf on canvas
"As it was seen around the world when lockdowns began, balconies and terraces as spaces were used to express solidarity, practices and daily habits. This project too, seeks to use home/ immediate spaces as central, with a hope for connection and bringing our fragmented and virtual lives together."
Himani Gupta
Fermented paintings - part IV
Oil, pigment, graphite, charcoal, gold leaf on canvas
"The painting was left installed on the facade of the building intentionally, to be affected—fermented in pollution, weather, decay, birds & bats – all elements found in a bustling part of a metropolis. It was installed for 7 months to embody the city as it unraveled after lockdown over the next few months, whilst I was away. The scroll was a documentation device of sorts, witnessing the slow and fast changes as Delhi opened up. The scroll is now split into 4 paintings."
Himani Gupta
Fermented paintings - moving image-II
Mapping Landscpaes is an ongoing body of work—an exploration of transient lands and moving borders. Through the mixed media works, there is an inquiry into how land and topography evolve and devolve with conflict and movement – leading to inclusion, exclusion and ‘othering’. The spatial aspects of the border – its fluidity and morphology, and how people and movement are being watched, and even non-conflicted lands, are expressed through lines and form and use of multi-layered material on surfaces such as paper, concrete and canvas. To Navigate includes two large scale works on the intersection of drawing and painting on canvas from this series.
Mapping Landscapes - blue - moving image of detail
Mapping Landscapes - blue
Oil, graphite, charcoal, silver leaf and resin on canvas
Mapping Landscapes - red - moving image of detail
Mapping Landscapes - red
Oil, acrylic, graphite, charcoal, copper leaf and resin on canvas