In Thirds

March 10, 2016

All of a sudden I started having these vivid dreams. It would happen mostly with bold red wines. Never with beer. Or if I wasn’t sleeping well, the only time I would be asleep was for a vivid dream. I would wake up sweating or suddenly thinking “is this real life?” or often even scared.

When I was in Chicago last October I had this vivid dream that I remembered completely. I needed to immediately put it into words so here it is:

So, I had this dream. It was 3 different alternate universes. One was this old time Victorian life where the girls where wearing these elaborate gowns and the houses were these majestic mansions and there was green rolling hills everywhere. Very old time beauty. The next life was in some converted warehouse with all these hip looking people having all these different events in all these different spaces. The third was this long walk parade type thing. The main character girl who I think was me inter looped within the three worlds. So in the long walk she was walk around with different people but also caught up again with this one guy who I think she was sweet for. It wasn't supposed to happen but they had this chemistry so she kept coming back. In the old time world there were all these secret passageways between the mansions and within them. I think there were two main girls in that one. One girl just kept getting tossed aside. She would have these extravagant times with these two guys and eventually she'd pick one but it was never reciprocated and I just remember her long train blowing in the wind all-dramatic. In the warehouse, there were this group of guys who lived in this one area but intermingled around the whole area. They would put on concerts and have these performances. But they would do kind of mundane things as well as make art or write a song. In each of the worlds, this one girl had to sneak around. She would have these grand romantic moments but they could never be anything more than these fleeting moments.

A friend told me I should make a print about it so I started one but never got to finish the project. The idea is to have something in thirds and then some kind of movement connecting the entire thing.

Arrived at Chhaap!

March 08, 2016

Baroda has the best art school in the entire nation of India. This means that Baroda has a thriving art scene. Two thousand artists live here. It’s really not THAT big of place! I went to two openings yesterday and it was like nothing I had ever seen before. The first one was at a gallery called Nazar in Lal Bangalow (red mansion). There was a nice flow to the space and a few interesting pieces. Outside there was a full spread of all kinds of foods and drinks. Since Gujarat is a dry state, there was no alcohol like in the states. The next opening we went to was put together for women’s day. We got there and it was elaborate, a little crazy in my opinion. There was so much to look at and the first thing I said was: “where’s the art?” All these ladies were dressed to the nines and I was still in my studio clothes. Most weddings in America aren’t even that fancy.

The thing you have to understand about artists in India is that there is little creativity. I am almost more impressed by the traditional crafts and designs you find. There is real technique behind all that work. The main person in charge at Chhaap was explaining to me that if you tell students to come up with their own idea they have literally no idea what to do. She said if you tell them make a 4X4 drawing with a flower here and a leaf there, they would be able to do that. I did not think that would be the case at all.

While I am at Chhaap, I am going to conduct a lecture, workshop and have a show of my own at the end. I am so excited to get working. I started making some small paintings yesterday. I decided that they look a little too happy for my taste. Since when is that a bad thing? Ha!

If Edward Hopper Ever Visited Stepwell…

March 06, 2016

Stepwell is this intricately carved marble well that was built four hundred years ago. It has 5 levels and water on the bottom. The architecture of this well gave the most stunning dramatic light shifts. Edward Hopper is one of my favorite painters. My style is not like his at all, but I really admire the loneliness in each of his paintings and obviously the sense of light. Two years ago I decided to step away from abstraction and started photographing my favorite interiors with interesting light. I never really started painting those but I hope to one day if I ever get out of this abstraction black hole I delved into.

Coming Back to the Original Inspiration

March 01, 2016

I got the opportunity to take some time off work, so I wanted to take full advantage. Originally, I wanted to find a residency or something in the states, but nothing was really meshing. Instead I found Chhaap. In Gujarati (my native language), chhaap means impression. The name itself was enough to steal my heart. I began the process of contacting the foundation and everything seemed to work out.

Right before I was about the buy my ticket, my mom came up with the idea of surprising her dad and our family in India. I am absolutely awful at keeping surprises, but I am proud to say the entire surprise was a complete success! Being able to witness everyone’s expressions was surreal. They literally had no idea.

The first art related experience I got to encounter was attending a lecture and demo by Japanese woodcut artist Katsutoshi Yuasa. He explained the history of Japanese woodcuts up until contemporary prints. I already felt the creative juices flowing and completely inspired. I choose to hand print all my woodcuts and the process is very similar to the Japanese style. The difference is some of the tools. Next, Katsutoshi did a demonstration. I will be sure to use some of the techniques while I am in India on my own woodcuts.

Somewhere in high school, I let go of my passion of dance to fuel all of that creativity into making art. I grew up loving projects and anything creative but didn’t really have that much formal training. At the end of high school I took AP art and started at Pratt Institute the following year. My heritage and culture had an immeasurable impact on my aesthetic. I drew inspiration from henna designs and peacocks. The colors and textures all found their way into my work. Over time as I began to explore the realm of printmaking at Southern, my designs became more abstracted to the point of merely hinting at the original inspiration. The designs and colors explained my experience with the culture instead of merely reproducing it. My work depicts life experiences through the way they interact with layers of ink on paper. The way I deal with ruminating thoughts is to put them into a visual representation.

Every time I come to visit India, I leave with a changed perspective and newfound appreciation. I am looking forward to what this trip has to offer!