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Observations, past and present

Fresh take Installation Landscape and Memories-1

Twenty-six year old artist Sandhya Pai has been in Kochi for a month and a half. Working at the Kashi Art Residency, she has put up her work ‘Landscapes and Memories-1’ at the Studio View, Bazaar Road. A singular take on her short stay here, Sandhya has connected her past and present in a wonderful spatial expression. She harks back to her agrarian roots when she tilled land along with her grandfather in Karnataka.

Hence a floor map of Mattancherry is created in soil sowed with paddy. The sprouting blades of paddy form a border to roads labelled with corporation signboards. The floor is set with this maze while on top float in a mobile, swaying to the on-purpose fan breeze, paintings on prints (A4 size) of local sights and images. Even a mundane activity like defrosting the fridge, a chore that Sandhya was involved in during her stay is there, a part of the process.

And it’s this chain of processes that make the work. The installation a fresh take of a young, fertile mind, Sandhya’s work displays high, artisanal quality, intricate labour and fine detailing. But above all it rises on the strength of a simple, honest expression of living alone and with oneself. “Not knowing the language was a blessing in a way because I could just observe very quietly,” she says. Married to a Malayali from Payannur, Sandhya has completed her art studies from JJ School of arts, Mumbai.

The show concludes on July 28.

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