The circle of life and death

Life and death are one thread, the same line viewed from different sides. These famous words by Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu in a way encapsulate what’s in store for viewers when they visit Osmosis, an art exhibition which is currently underway at Tarq, an art gallery located in Colaba, Mumbai. Curated by Shaleen Wadhwana, it features the works of artists Rithika Merchant, Samanta Batra Mehta and Savia Mahajan. Each of them uses different mediums such as drawings, paintings in watercolour and ink, assemblage and collages, ceramic sculptures, found objects and digital prints to explore the universal truths of life as well as death while deciphering the meaning of distance and belonging.

THE CURATOR’S JOURNEY 

Shaleen, who has been associated with art for several years mainly as a scholar and a teacher, got the concept while she was teaching her students last year. She says, “When we were building historical timelines, and studying ancient burial practices, a student in my class asked me  about the History and Future of Death. It led to my curiosity about exploring the histories of ideas that permeate across time and space, and nullify barriers, like death and life, and the feeling of home and belonging. Creating spaces that allow for that contemplation was the motivating factor in curating this show.” What prompted her to approach Rithika, Samanta and Savia, was the fact that all three of them dabble with different mediums. 

She adds, “My primary thoughts were about the massive geographical movement of Rithika and Samanta, who have travelled extensively for their work, study and building their personal life, and how that has impacted their practice. Similarly, the repurposing of material by Savia, through everyday objects and creating sculptures of and from them, and Samanta, who re-contextualises 18th-19th-century antiquarian books, text and photographs in her practice, linked both these artists very strongly for me. As I delved deeper, I found that the usage of ink and iconography was common to all three artists’ practices.” 

(From L-R) Daughters of the sky; Rithika Merchant; The Interior World

ARTISTS’ SPEAK 

While Rithika has sought inspiration from myths, history and rituals, Samanta turned to anatomy and Savia delved into her fascination for ceramics and sculpture to explore the themes. Rithika says, “The works in this show can be seen as a collection of modern artefacts that draw on myths, history and rituals. Each piece can be seen as a totem and invites the viewer to stitch together their own narrative, drawing on collective memories and signifiers to generate meanings. The work invites the viewer to connect with an archetypal part of themselves and by extension tap into our collective roots. In doing so, I explore how objects can be markers of identity and how these may be reworked in contemporary contexts as meanings and interpretations change.”

She adds that some of her works also explore feminine identity and the power of women. “People tend to associate femininity with things which are beautiful but passive, vulnerable, and weak. I attempt to use a variety of feminine symbols to recontextualise this and present a more rounded idea of femininity,” she states. 

Samanta Batra Mehta (left) and Illusion of identity and salvation #15

Savia, on the other hand, was fascinated with the core themes as it helped to experiment with her medium further. She mentions, “The cycle of life and death as a subject was not such a challenge to face, as constant creation/constant destruction and its threshold as concepts lie at the heart of my practice and art making. But with home and belonging, it is difficult to portray these ideas in a symbolic form. Home to me is a transient space in its physical sense, but a permanent space in an emotional sense. Hence, if I held on to transience as a thought, it was accessible or simpler to express myself. Also, the everyday materials I use along with clay, which seems visually blur or ambiguous like; paper, cloth, materials like natural loofa, pillows or quotidian extracts like tea and onion skin, supported the temporariness of home and belonging.”

The artists sought inspiration from popular culture, mythology and even their personal experiences to create the artworks. Savia elaborates, “The notion of death and curiosity of what after and beyond it has been deeply embedded within me as a child. These questions find their way into the art that I make. In the sculptural work titled Resurgo (that translates as Resurrection in Latin), which visually resembles discarded fire sparklers, the sparklers clustered as flower bouquets are used as a visual metaphor of ‘Death’ being a process of transformation and afterlife.”

Savia Mahajan (left) and Liminal Entity 2

Likewise, Rithika used myths as a vehicle for telling certain stories and exploring certain ideas. She explains, “One of the references I’ve used is the myth of the Visha Kanya. According to it, young girls were made poisonous by exposing them to low-intensity poison from a very young age. They would develop Immunity to it and their body fluids would become poisonous; any sexual contact with them would be lethal. They would then be used as assassins against powerful enemies. This depicts the complexity of what it is to be a woman — a warrior or weapon, a lethal symbol of seduction yet still a tool of the patriarchy. There is also a reference to the burning of the witches and Sita’s Agnipariksha and how these stories represent men’s fear of women as well as the fear and punishment of women in power.”