by Georgina Maddox
A group exhibition titled ‘Molecule’ featuring five artists curated by Sweety Joshi at Gallery 1000A, New Delhi
“All that is outside of you is within you,” says the sage understanding of the universe that dates all the way back to ancient Hindu scriptures. In other words, the human body is a “miniature universe.” Pinda means "microcosm" and Brahmanda means "macrocosm" according to the scriptures.
Given this understanding, artists Amit Das, Simran Lamba, Sanjay Sharma, Sweety Joshi and Sanjay Sawant present their work that is a vibrant coming together of these life forces that comment on the ups and downs, the positivity and negativity of life that characterizes our current urban environment.
The pricking of paper can become such an innovation that it presents the universe that is made up of these microcosms or molecular structures. Amit Das creates meticulous work, giving a three-dimensional effect combined with light. It illustrates the perfect combination of medium and content spontaneously, delicately and energetically. His work unravels the universe and the cosmos with its elements of mystery and sensitivity.
Sweety Joshi combines the usage of needle and thread with the element of fire, slightly singeing the paper upon which she has worked with the sewing as her primary tool of expression. Her work looks at the natural elements of water, fire and earth, bringing to them a rhythmic nature. She associates the act of burning to a transformative, progressive and positivist act, employing burnt dots on paper to imply the different aspects of her personal travails through life.
Sanjay Sharma uses the shredding and distortion of paper as visual statements about political and social issues and manners that is both dissociative and yet very much hitting the issue dead centre. To identify he existence of the contemporary human personality, he employs day-to-day lifeline mediums such as the newspaper. The newspaper is a manifestation of society's current situation where everyone is searching for their own existence and identity.
Simran KS Lamba's paintings absorb the world around him. He has always believed that painting has an intense symbolic relationship with the texture and materiality of different contrasts that come forth as novel ideas to him. The visuals he creates are not only bold and textured but also microscopic. For him, the canvas has a vital role in the whole creative process along with coal tar, wire, crayons and different materials. His painting series showcases how the artistic and creative forces landscape the energy and beauty inside and around him.
Sanjay Sawant feels that his existence in this world is as simple and elemental as the very micro size 'Jiva'. Life and Art cannot be separated from each other, though art practices and teaches the fulfilment of nothingness. His artwork is a combination of his personal, physical, sexual, emotional, social, educational, political, commercial, intellectual, regional, religious, spiritual and an unlimited spectrum of experiences. He believes that creativity happens in zero time.
These five artists reflect their surroundings that emanates from their experiences, expressing the feeling of space. The group show also celebrates the return to the physical and is viewed much better in actuality rather than just online.
Catch the show at Gallery 1000A, New Delhi till 23 July 2022.
(All images are courtesy of the respective artists, curator Sweety Joshi and Gallery 1000A)
Georgina Maddox is an independent critic-curator with almost two decades of experience in the field of Indian art and culture. She was assistant editor at India Today’s Mail Today and senior arts writer for the Indian Express and the Times of India. She is currently working in the media as an independent critic for various publications and has published articles in Open Magazine, India Today, Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue and also in Elle Magazine, The Hindu and Business Line, Sunday Magazine BLINK, TAKE on Art, Time Out, and online with US based E-magazine, Studio International, STIR world and MASH Mag.
well articulated