The paintings are inspired by the book Poetics of Space by Gaston Bachelard and a poem from Gitanjali by Rabindranath Tagore, contemplating the nature of memory, space for remembrance and reflection, especially as a global citizen and the resilience of adapting, creating a sense of belonging, assimilating to the new homes with the cultural memory of the old world.
These paintings explore the psychological aspect of “Home”. Home can be the house you grew up in. It can be the physical place you reside, the culture of a city, and the community. The vernacular architecture, urban or rural landscape, habitat, climate, ecology, and other external environmental factors contribute to what makes us feel at home. It satisfies our “Our Need to Belong.”
I try to capture the changing world around me by creating paintings from my Pixelated Memories of the places on three continents I have lived in and creating my personal Mappa Mundi. Trying to experience the flora and fauna of my many homes and research the transformations in the places of my childhood.
Brief Description: This Painting depicts the history and stories of Kolkata (India), Bolivar (Venezuela), and the San Francisco Bay Area. I use the red altar cloth of my culture to highlight the places. My family carried it as we migrated from one country to another. In this painting, I document the natural and man-made world around me and, through Pixelated Memories, the places I have lived across three continents. I try to understand and visualize how landscapes, ecologies, histories, economics, culture, and vernacular architecture are changing over the years.
Details:
As our climate changes, people migrate more than ever homes and our hometowns are in a constant flux of change. Borders close, and sometimes you can never return Home. I document the natural and manmade world around me and research the places my old homes used to be. I try to understand and visualize how the landscapes, histories, economies, culture, and vernacular architecture are changing over the years. How animals, plants, and humans are coping with the changing climate, and the communities struggle to retain their individual cultural identities. I make numerous sketches, then assemble the sketches into my paintings.
Home Kolkata, Bolivar, San Francisco Bay Area Mixed Media, textile, sketches on paper, and acrylic paints 24″ x 24″
