WHAT IS ANJU DODIYA'S 'IMAGINED IMMORTALS' ?

ANW I DELHI I 1st Published 2245

Photo courtesy: Indian express

‘Imagined Immortals’, Anju Dodiya’s latest solo show held in Vadehra Art Gallery comprises of a set of mixed media works, with gouache and collage elements that have been worked out on printed pages of the reproduction of old medical illustrations.

The works are a condensation of the artist’s internal monologue, which has been the locus of her practice ever since its inception. According to the artist, ‘Imagined Immortals’ explores mortality, the fragile nature of the human body and the heroic aspirations that keep it going.”

The artist’s inward looking gaze, ever present in her works, focuses here on the people that we choose to remember and how this act of remembering, grants them ‘immortality’. According to the artist, it’s through these acts (of memory-making) that we forget our own mortal nature and death then becomes a lie.

The artist’s exploration of the body under assault, its fragility, its pain and a structuring of that pain are visible in works like the ‘Peach Blossoms’, ‘witness’ and ‘Blue Ribbons’. According to Dodiya, “the figuration mimics that of medieval European illustrations and the narrative is formed by abstract symbols of immortality like the therapeutic creepers, honeycombs, peach blossoms and for the artist - her studio paraphernalia: her brush.”

The transparent, ghost-like images populating the artist’s picture plane are usually layered and seem to float between two worlds. By turning the printed pages of a medical illustration book into her canvas, Dodiya further solidifies the relation between the living and the dead, tying them in visible and imperceptible knots.

About the artist:

Anju Dodiya (b.1964) is one of the most prominent names in the field of Indian contemporary art. Although, Dodiya’s practice has often been described as self-portraiture, the artist chooses to refer to it as “fictional self portrait.” Powerfully translating her personal inquiry within into portent mindscapes, the artist draws the viewer into a world that is stained and damaged.

It is this inner dialogue with the ‘self’ that forms the undercurrent of Dodiya’s practice. Working predominantly with water-colours, the artist’s works are multi-layered with simplicity of line and form. Her visual lexicon draws influence from the Renaissance masters, Ukiyo-e prints, photos published along with newspaper reportage, cinema, literature and poetry.

Anju Dodiya lives and works in Mumbai, India.