Personal relics also allow great possibilities for fiction: Artist Biraaj Dodiya

Over the last year and a half, as our minds constantly made distinctions between the comfortable and the dangerous – artist Biraaj Dodiya became conceptually interested in exploring this. "I tend to collect materials over time – discarded objects, industrial material, personal relics, studio detritus; all these eventually come together in the final making of the work.

For this group of works, I was thinking about tactility; about what everyday objects transform into with time, age and touch," she tells about her works in the group exhibition 'The (Pro)Found Object' (August 25-September 24) at Vadehra Art Gallery in the capital.

The artist, who debuted last year with the solo 'Stone Is A Forehead' (a reference to a part of the poem 'Lament for Ignacio Sanchez Mejias' by Lorca) is the daughter of major contemporary artists Atul and Anju Dodiya. "It was wonderful to grow up with artist parents. It gave me a sense of what it meant to truly practice creative freedom, work persistently, and then share it with the world."

Recalling her time at the Art Institute in Chicago and New York University, Dodiya says she loved the interdisciplinary nature of both the art schools. "I met incredible teachers, some great friends and made a lot of work. It was a time when I figured myself out, and also an opportunity to see some of the most contemporary art from around the world."

Adding that during her time there, she was not bound to any particular medium and hopes to carry this sense of freedom into her current practice, the artist says, " At the moment, I am drawn to spending more time painting and have been working on sculptural objects intermittently," she says.

For someone in whose work personal memory assumes significant importance, what we remember, how we recall events and the significance that objects and images take on overtime, interest her immensely. She feels, "Personal relics and found objects signify one's personal history, but also allow great possibilities for fiction."

With ancient sarcophagi, Pahari miniature paintings, the clothing of monks and mourners, athleticism, first-aid bandaging, domestic jury-rigging, childhood memorabilia, 15thcentury Italian painting, and world cinema being some of the things that influence her at the moment, Dodiya is usually at her studio from 11 am to 8 pm. "This time is primarily spent working on paintings or sculptural work, with breaks to write, look at books or draw. Snacks and music are an important part of the studio day too. "

The lockdowns meant a lot of quiet quiet time either working in the studio or being home amongst books and cinema. "I feel very grateful to have been home with my family during the last year. The news from around the world was painful; one feels lucky to be alive and healthy."