Studio 3: Echoes of the Homeland

Studio 3 - Echoes of the Homeland 

Rooted in the spirit of place, this studio reflects on the homeland as a site of memory, belonging, and transformation. Drawing from human connection, cultural traditions, and the social structures that shape identity, these works traverse boundaries between the personal and the collective. Seemingly simple forms encapsulate stories in fragments of time, emotion, and heritage, embodying ethos and evoking catharsis; uncovering the quiet complexity of human experience.

Kaimurai’s work is a dialogue between organic forms, ancient South Indian traditions, and the rhythms of Carnatic music, expressed solely in natural indigo. Viswanadhan, through his practice, frees space from the esoteric notions of geometrical abstraction. The colour red is prevalent throughout the latter part of his oeuvre, a reminder of the red earth of Kerala and a subtle nod to his generational roots. Debris emerges as material and metaphor as Anirudh Shakatwat explores belonging in the ruins of empire and the fragments of the present. Paintings of caves in Hampi and Badami references the close association of ascetic bodies to cavernous spaces in miniature and manuscript traditions of South Asia.

Rooted in nostalgia for his hometown, Mansoor Mansoori balances familiarity with mystery in his work. The empty, controlled terrain in Dead of the night VI evokes a stillness that mirrors modern-day alienation while opening space for intimate self-reflection. Sudarshan Shetty seeks to move beyond rigid social frameworks while drawing from fragments of daily life. A Time For Bleed, pensive and critical, seeks to evoke childhood memories and curiosity, resisting global homogenization while questioning systems shaped by politics and economy. In Bijnor - I, Payal explores spaces from her ancestral home in Shahbazpur. Layering and masking with tissue paper evoke the fading presence of abandoned rural structures, revealing what is hidden, lost, or nearing its end. Saubiya Chasmawala transforms memory, identity, and cultural inheritance into a poetic visual language, navigating the layered complexities of being a female artist from the Alavi Bohra Muslim community. For Soumen Mondal, the Sundarbans are not just his birthplace but the core of his practice. The fragile coexistence of man and the wild inspires his reflections on survival and time, translating the forest’s beauty and uncertainties into Aggresive Delta - 5. S.N. Sujith conjures eerie, make-believe terrains where desire and fear coexist. The Promised Land explores the quiet dissonance of modern existence, drawing on the myth of utopia amidst the harsh realities of a rapidly transforming cityscape.

Rohini Devasher’s Chrysallis explores the relationships between the human and non-human. Her forms, while pulsating with primordial life, simultaneously become precursors to a futuristic space. Ad for an Advertisement repositions painting in relation to the “screen”. Through her work, Tanya Goel prompts an interrogation of how perception and visual language converge in contemporary abstraction. Viraj Mithani’s forms are morphed with dichotomies of traditional versus progressive and organic versus technological. Honouring the rich tradition of Miniature painting, Divya Pamnani’s bright, whimsical layers of paint weave history with imagination, infusing her practice with beauty, joy, and a balance between pattern, play, and introspection.