Things people throw in trash can often become a work of art. Singapore-based, Indo-British artist Kavita Issar Batra has ensured to engrave the popular phrase - "one man's trash is another man's gold" in her works.
An exhibition organised at the India Habitat Centre called No Number, No Name, showcases Batra's paintings, photographs, videos and installations. Curated by historian Alka Pande, these artworks are inspired by organic materials normally thrown away by people. The aim of her work is to give a voice to the discarded and ignored and finding beauty and meaning in it. As Alka says, “The photographs are re-looked and re-imagined as visual treats on canvas and paper bringing alive a rare vibrancy. This exhibition is Kavita’s engagement with her immediate environment and a thoughtful, quiet introspection where the outward eye softly nestles within her innerscapes and teases out silhouettes of people sans names, without numbers.”
Kavita uses different substrates, plywood, canvas and high quality acid free paper for a varying outcome. Her painting is process-led and she uses very little brush, responding intuitively leaving a different impression in mind.
This artist is often drawn to the natural, organic materials that 'litter' our streets and pavements. They lurk in the shadows quietly accepting all that comes their way - being trampled on or driven over, subject to the vagaries of the weather which determine their fate - whether they crumble to dust on hot dry days or slowly disintegrate into the wetness merging with the surface they find themselves on.
She feels that the dismissive attitude to the organic and urban detritus is replicated in how we treat the nameless, numberless multitudes of people living and dying on the margins of society.
“Countless people are collateral to wars, terrorism, despair, famine, drought and other natural disasters. Other than their loved ones and perhaps appearing in statistics in news, most remain an abstract soon forgotten,” she says, adding, “In our growing population tsunami, many are swept along by the chaos around them and are deprived of a sense of self or belonging. In the rush of contemporary urban life, we forget to pause or look beyond maintaining our comfortable lives. We swirl like leaves caught up in capricious winds rather than stepping back to respond in considered, thoughtful ways.”
An exhibition without any challenges are almost unlikely. For Kavita, the challenges were people not responding, being vague about commitments, others cutting the queue or pulling rank to get their things done first.
She says, “Early on I remember sitting in my room and despairing at the enormity of what I had taken on and how green I felt in dealing with it all. However, I plunged in made friends, found some very professional people who supported me wonderfully and feel so much more empowered.” Talking about her work, she says, “In my work I rely on serendipity. I use only found materials so I never know what will inspire me and start another work,” adding, “I am not destroying anything by plucking them from their roots. It raises awareness about one's immediate surroundings and the discards under one's foot.”
On whether the use of 'litter' be imbibed in arts and crafts lessons in schools, she says, “Working with the detritus as I do, has changed my vision indelibly. Sharing this way of ‘seeing’ through workshops with children, opens their eyes to their surroundings and hopefully will make them more mindful of the environment.”
The exhibition is on at the India Habitat Centre till April 6.
