London | My Site

London, United Kingdom - 7 nights and 7 days

Following the evacuation from India in June 2020, I quarantined for 14 days at a friend’s flat in Pimlico, London in a building known as Peel House, along Vauxhall bridge.

Peel House is a former Metropolitan Police training quarter dating back to 1907, located in a conservation area and, although not a listed building, Westminster City Council has identified this as being ‘a building of unlisted merit’.

The flat and the building were relevant both to my inner and outer worlds at the time - because it was the only space that I landed in so suddenly which also managed to feel like home. With almost no getting used to, I went about my daily life, isolated and off-grid. London at the time was a site of transition, but also of familiarity and returning home. Navigating immigration rules during covid and national borders left an anxious print.

This body of work contains 7 small format drawings of a houseplant called Calathea Musaica (day) and 7 small format, pigment rich ‘sky paintings’ (night). The night and day works became a means to measure time, almost meditative in practice, as each day of quarantine went by.

Quarantine sky, night-1

Oil on paper

Calathea Mosaica, day-8

Ink on paper

"Gradually studying the information in my immediate environment led me to explore my interest in the duality of space - that Peel House was both a public and private building at different points in history, measuring time by sunset colours at home and contributing to forming social memory through art. Thinking about these things again,in a new environment, felt like a natural progression to my ongoing and recent work created in Delhi."

Himani Gupta

Quarantine sky, night-2

Oil on paper

Calathea Mosaica, day-9

Ink on paper

"One of the most engaging materials during this time was an ornamental house plant called “Calathea Mosaica” - which formed the reference for the work created at Peel House. It is also known as the “network plant” because of its intricate, cartographic appearance. It felt like a fitting visual to navigate the times. The sky paintings measure time as each day passes by."

Himani Gupta

Quarantine sky, night-3

Oil on paper

Calathea Mosaica, day-10

Ink on paper

"Looking at sunsets from the flat and studying Calathea by day fell into a routine of comfort soon enough. Work began to take shape through drawings, small format paintings and making visual notes while walking within a small radius of Peel House — which was eventually introduced to the passer-by via the building’s physical features such as the sash windows, window ledge and the London stock brick facade."

Himani Gupta