What once was, still is, but isn't (Dhruvi Acharya)
"Wallpapered with drawings made over 20 years, the room archives her journey as artist, partner, wife, confidante and mother."
“Wallpapered with drawings made over 20 years, the room archives her journey as artist, partner, wife, confidante and mother. The room is her dream-like mindscape of memories shared with her late husband, whom she lost to a horse riding accident.”
“A self-stitched carpet on the floor narrates her loss in the form of a love-letter in first person. She bares out her longing, creating no barriers between her viewer and her deeply felt emotion through these words.
Their shared room, recreated with dressing table, study, bookshelf and their bed, is hung from the ceiling. As the objects are strung from above, the room remains to be in suspended reality.”
“A very fine off-white muslin cloth stuffed with raw cotton and stitched with red thread, these pieces of soft sculpture have their memories etched on them. The bed only half used as the other half is embraced by sculptural elements like tears and thorns. Drawings that defined life, words they shared through their lifetime stitched on spines of books in the book shelf, tear drops shuttering windows and silhouettes from photographs form the room.”
“A deeply personal story about grieving which is recreated through her vision - you carry with you the anguish and love once shared into your own memory capsule as you leave the space.”
All words taken from artist statement
what once was, still is, but isn’t, Dhruvi Acharya, 2016, Raw cotton fabric, synthetic filler, aluminium wire, synthetic polymer paint, ink & paper. Soft sculptural site specific installation, photos from Gallery Chemould.
Acharya studied in Mumbai and Maryland, and now works in Mumbai.