Review:
She prowls around my shadowy brain
as though it were her dwelling-place
— a great soft beast of charming ways,
meowling in a mellow strain.
– Le Chat , Fleurs du mal, Charles Baudelaire
Boshudhara Mukherjee quotes Charles Baudelaire as she titles her show ‘The Familiars’, currently on view at TARQ, Mumbai. The title is inspired by the Wicca legend of ‘Familiars’, which are believed to be the benevolent spirits in animal forms guiding and protecting the humans. Much like the legends of ‘Familiars’, the artist’s cats often guide her to shape her pieces gradually. Made with torn fabrics, jeans, uncoated canvas and threads, the huge tapestry-like works embody a melange of emotions such as a sense of belongingness, companionship, empathy and so on.
The exhibition, the second solo of the artist at TARQ displays eight works heavily layered with embroidery, patchworks, crochet and stitches. The artist has incorporated different techniques for each piece guided by the emotions evoked by the very tactility of the material. Seen from a distance the works create an impression of complex, web-like form while on a closer inspection they reveal the nuanced shades, intricate details and tangibility of the threads.
A Fine Arts graduate from the M. S. University, Baroda (2008), Boshudhara has five solo exhibitions to her credit including the ongoing one. She has exhibited with the Volte Gallery, Mumbai; the Gallery Sarah in Muscat, Oman; Bait Muzna Gallery, Muscat, Abu Dhabi and Lalit Kala Akademi, Chennai among others. She was a recipient of the prestigious Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant (2013), the Inlaks Foundation Fine art award (2010) and the Nasreen Mohammadi Foundation Scholarship (2005-06). The artist is presently based in Bengaluru.
Picture credit: Tarq Mumbai
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