The everyday, routine, ordinary, mundane, obvious when transformed into a work of art speaks a different lyrical language. The exhibition, Subject- Object features artists who have explored and experimented with ordinary objects and finally juxtaposed these ordinary objects in unusual contexts, these ordinary objects have been used as the starting point of the artist’s journey to create his/her artwork and what we witness is the bestowing of new meanings to familiar things. Subject- Object features four young Indian artists from various parts of the country- Pramod G, Rashmimala Devi, Ritu Mehra and Vishakha Apte.

For Pramod G exploring the sculptural possibilities of the forms found in nature has always been his prime concern. The understanding that all creatures, all objects and all materials around us have histories and together it all forms a Great History is integral to his art practice. In nature, certain things appear; while certain other things disappear, like the decay of dead leaves and the sprouting of seeds. His sculptural installations are inspired by his observation of this emergence and disappearance at a microscopic level.

His art derives from nature and from his own personal surroundings these days, with nature becoming more and more human centric, all the other forms of life, objects and materials found in nature are deemed lesser in importance than human beings. Therefore his works attempts to remind us of the value of nature, the importance of our personal environment, the forms of nature and the importance that we should accord to them.

Rashmimala’s work engages with familiar, everyday objects, through her works she explores their uncanny as well as their commonplace side. Whether it is a day to day routine object like a blade or nail or a piece of patched wall, she visits and revisits the object almost obsessively, asking questions about the normative anxiety that structures daily living. Everyday objects found within the four walls tell many tales—they could be associated with “everyday trauma” at one level, with pleasurable memories at others. These feelings often reflect shared experiences, yet, they carry the imprint of individual histories, individual trajectories.

Rashmimala works with themes around home, house or shelter: the small, protected and self contained world we create for ourselves. She believes that pleasure, pain, violence, caresses, love, fun, security, all co-exist here and it is all about the experience of living, following a daily routine.

Ritu Mehra’s works are experimental in nature in terms of both subject and the medium. for Ritu art is a journey towards self- exploration, so the more she experiments with her works the more she discovers within herself. Her inspiration is derived from the simple day to day things & life forms as she believes that these simple things are nothing less than a wonderland. In Subject- Object, Ritu’s works originate from simple and mundane objects like spoons, garlic pods, a leaky tap etc; and yet these same objects presented in her paintings create a sense of calm which disconnects us from stress, anxiety and the pressures of day to day life. The artist works on her paintings keeping in mind the omnipresent creator of all the wonderful things whose creation we, in our state of unawareness often fail to see and appreciate.

Vishakha in her earlier works dealt with closed spaces, the inadequate areas one has to cope with while living a city life, and a human existence spending time in it. As a departure to her earlier body of works the works in Subject- Object portray objective shapes stretched comfortably with a lot of breathing space. The translucent and opaque quality of the painting releases objects from its mere and mediocre utilitarian context into pure pictorial forms. Seldom marked with subtle traces of shadows and a hint of human existence, the material converts itself into the living shape within different sights to signify the vagueness and mysteries of human life. The bold lines gradually blur to disappear into the background and become visible again to create the feeling of suspension between real and surreal, a dream and the actuality. The objects, which are invariably interconnected are beings that are entering the inside space, scattering at ease or moving outside of the canvas. It is said that people often use art as a compensation for what they lack in their actual life, but these artists look at their art as ideally, things that lead back into life and thus enrich observation and awareness and as a show Subject- Object attempts to restore this perception.