2020 is undeniably going to go down as one of the most eventful and an extraordinary year in history. The pandemonium of COVID-19 caught us off-guard and changed the way of life tagging it as new normal. This new normal indeed brought vivacity to long-overlooked “Mother Nature”. Conceptualized keeping the intriguing observations of natures evolvement through the pandemic, this collection embodies the healing process of the environment and its consequent resurrection.
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Governor of West Bengal Hon' Kesari Nath Tripathi with Gunjan Shrivastava cyanotype works 2019 |
And whilst the plague known to humankind lies stagnant, it is a marvel to watch nature reclaim and embrace itself; years and years of damage is being slowly healed, as in the short span of three weeks we see the Earth healing itself. The past century left mankind convinced that industrialization is human progress, and that the latter cannot coexist with the natural world. It took for the world to come to a standstill to remind us of the fact that we are, in fact, a part of this physical world. We are suddenly made aware of the notion that perhaps, there is a path for us to thrive without destroying that which surrounds us.
This collection is a call to action. By restoring degraded ecosystems and engaging in co-evolutionary processes, humankind can coexist, and even thrive by developing nature's wealth. This is our chance to identify it not as a plague, but as a cure.
As an artist, years of my consciousness towards sustainability inspires me to explore cyanotypes which is a beautiful process of natural phenomenon. It is a meditative experience to see the sun as the source of energy, which magically translates my subjects into profoundly soulful works of art. Adding my signature touch to the collection, it further explores the theme of natural decay with broken leaves printed onto the paper, and are completed with embroidery using red fine string. The colour red here symbolizes blood veins. Metaphorically, the print of the leaf stands to portray that the elements present are natural. My body of works embarks on the awareness to restore the belief in redemptive restoration and emboldens better environmental practice to reclaim what is degraded, damaged and destroyed.
