8 months ago
Anju Dodiya's 'Geometry of Ash' Explores Loss and Hope
Anju Dodiya is an artist who is showing her new paintings in Mumbai.
Her exhibition is called 'The Geometry of Ash'.
In her paintings, she shows scenes of loss and destruction, but also moments of hope.
She uses charcoal and watercolour to create a special colour that looks like ash.
There are big paintings on fabric and smaller drawings on paper.
In her work, she talks about the sadness of cutting down old trees and the small things people do to help, like planting new ones.
She also uses trees in her paintings to show different stories and memories.
She gets ideas from many places, like old paintings, movies, and even fashion magazines.
Her art is about how people deal with big ideas and connect different images.
Anju Dodiya's solo exhibition 'The Geometry of Ash' is on display at Chemould Prescott Road, Mumbai, until 26 December.
The exhibition features large fabric-on-board works and smaller peripheral drawings, using charcoal and watercolour to create an ashlike hue.
Dodiya's works explore themes of loss, renewal, and the absurdity of life, with interconnected narratives and symbolic imagery.
The artist discusses the use of trees in her paintings, symbolizing memory, comfort, and human history, and references various inspirations from literature, cinema, and art.
The exhibition includes references to historical events, colonialism, and personal inspirations from artists like Giotto di Bondone and Robert Rauschenberg.
- Who
- Artist Anju Dodiya
- What
- Exhibition titled 'The Geometry of Ash'
- Where
- Chemould Prescott Road, Mumbai
- When
- On view till 26 December
- Why
- To explore themes of loss, renewal, and the absurdity of life through interconnected narratives and symbolic imagery
Key facts
- Artist
- Anju Dodiya
- Exhibition Title
- The Geometry of Ash
- Venue
- Chemould Prescott Road, Mumbai
- Exhibition Duration
- On view till 26 December
- Medium
- Fabric-on-board works, watercolour, charcoal, soft pastel, peripheral drawings
- Key Themes
- Loss, renewal, absurdity of life, deforestation, human history, colonialism
- Inspirations
- Pompeii fresco, David Lynch's 'Twin Peaks', Giotto di Bondone, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Rauschenberg
Quotes
Anju Dodiya
Artist and exhibition participant
“I take from a lot of sources and strike another sort of narrative. As an artist it really interests me how we deal with ideas and connect images. I am extremely greedy about images. When I am watching a film, and if I see a certain sort of bed or a lamp or a gesture, I might take a screenshot. When I am looking at a fashion magazine and I see a strange, tall collar, which could be difficult for the wearer, I might tear out a page and keep it. And, of course, great art, which I have been carefully looking at from the beginning. When I was in art school, I loved Robert Rauschenberg. I continue to feel inspired, looking at the way he worked with material and juxtaposed diverse images and objects. The first time I saw Giotto’s frescoes in Padua (Italy), I was so moved and realised that it’s possible to feel so much when you look at a painting. These inspirations grow inside you and turn up at the most crucial moments.”
livemint.com
“In this particular work, the log is the memory of a tree, it is about ancestors. In a symbolic way, it is a source of friendship and comfort…. (In other works) those chopped off logs could be heads. Different meanings can be ascribed to a single image. For the past four-five years, I’ve been using trees a lot in my paintings. When I say trees, only one painting has leaves. Otherwise, it’s all about branches, which visually are solid lines. Those solid lines could be routes. There are folklores about being tied to a tree or ghosts living in trees. If you look at Italian artist Giotto di Bondone’s The Entry into Jerusalem, in which Christ is being taken for the crucifixion, there are boys perched on trees looking down at this significant event. Then there is a famous picture by Henri Cartier-Bresson of grieving mourners climbing on trees after Mahatma Gandhi died. Trees have always been witnesses to human history.”
livemint.com
