The universal function of art is not just to reflect the world around us but also to provide the audience a chance to explore deeper sensibilities. Indian contemporary artist NS Harsha, who lives and works from Mysuru, confirms this statement through his recent exhibition ‘Stomach Studio’, which is on display at Vadehra Art Gallery, Defence Colony, till May 2. Featured here is a series of artworks that Harsha painted amid the pandemic, in the last two years.
Elements of change
The 15 distinct artworks that are part of ‘Stomach Studio’ are an inquiry into the many aspects of the pandemic and the consequent ‘new normal’. This series comprises a few of Harsha’s detailed works, with elements that provide a panoramic gaze of life and keeps the viewer engrossed for hours. “I like to pay attention to life’s moments. It could be incidents on a street or an observation of a landscape... These observations inspire me to create a painting in which hundreds of events and incidents are brought under one panoramic gaze.”
Harsha’s work ‘Emission Test’ (2021) is one where he explores an unusual situation—all citizens, including entities from the animal kingdom, go through a test to identify “what they emit”. “It is a secular test where people and other elements from all walks of life are placed on iconic plastic chairs,” the artist says.
The common motifs noticed in this series are the ‘rat’, the ‘lamp’, and the ‘cosmos’, all of which represent Harsha’s eagerness to explore transcendental narratives. “During the early days of COVID-19, I was interested to observe how the scientific community would go about finding a vaccine/medicine for this new nature’s challenge. Then, I was thinking how one species uses another to gain access to knowledge,” he shares, throwing light on how lab rats are often used in biomedical experiments. The lamps in his paintings, on the other hand, are a way to showcase how the early days of COVID were ‘dark’. “Lamps were the most appropriate images to paint, I suppose,” the artist shares.
Witness of nature
‘Matriarchal Maps of Matrix’ (2020) weaves a maternal tapestry with humans and fauna. Sharing his inspiration behind the work, Harsha says, “My niece gets into a friendly fight when her mother starts doing up her hair. While watching this event over the years, I observed subtle exchanges between them, and sometimes between my niece and her grandmas! These observations inspired me to paint the flow of ‘maternal knowledge’ from one generation to another. Most of these knowledge flows are never documented.” This painting also features motifs of elephants in white that represent how female elephants transfer generational knowledge to lead the herd to waterholes and seasonal pastures.
Though painted with a tinge of humour and irony, Harsha’s work is an insight into the tumultuous times humankind has lived through. It also evokes a sense of hope that ‘this too shall pass’. Addressing his work as an artist in such testing times, Harsha concludes, “Realities need to be addressed by worldly orders and activities. But a conscious artistic gaze will help us to distance oneself from those everyday realities.”
CHECK IT OUT
WHAT: Stomach Studio by NS Harsha
WHEN: Till May 2
WHERE: Vadehra Art Gallery, Defence Colony