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Painting in the Time of Corona⁣⁣

 
 

Painting in the Time of Corona⁣⁣
Watercolour on Paper ⁣⁣
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We’re afraid of everyone⁣⁣
Afraid of the sun⁣⁣
Isolation⁣⁣
The sun will never disappear⁣⁣
But the world may not have many years⁣⁣
Isolation⁣⁣
– John Lennon, Isolation ⁣⁣
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Isolation in these times has not only cast a shadow over our sunny days but has brought about a change in our psychological and emotional aspects. Artist Dhruvi Acharya is someone who has been documenting her response to this change since the lockdown. In these stressful times, she takes comfort in her studio painting her fears and thoughts. In this series she delves a little deeper in using watercolour as her medium, she mentions that it is “more or less a stream of consciousness paintings” with no preliminary drawings, using a broad wash of red and purple hues signifying the virus, morphed into this surrealistic world of suspicion, fear and angst. Layered with figural elements of globs floating alongside human figures. The poppy red flowers spouting blobs from open mouths implies the cacophony of misinformation, these empty thoughts and speech bubbles influenced by comic books suggest a virus filled air where stranded families, homeless people, the migrant labourers are left to fend for themselves in this lockdown. This series was exhibited online by Chemould Prescott Road where proceedings go towards helping people affected by the pandemic.⁣⁣
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Dhruvi Acharya began painting her memories of home when she moved to the US, soon afterwards she joined hoffberger school of painting, Maryland Institute, College of Art, Baltimore, USA and received her Masters in Painting in 1998, where soon afterwards had her solo show, MFA Thesis Exhibition MICA Gallery, Baltimore. She had her solo shows with kravets wehby gallery in New York. She participated in several group shows including the san jose museum of art and Griffith University in Brisbane. Acharya has been the recipient of the FICCI Young Woman Achievers award in 2013 and was featured on the cover of India Today Magazine in 2005.⁣⁣