Indian artist, Yashika Sugandh, shares a recent series of pen on paper, black and white, artworks.  Her quietly provocative imagery and narrative unravel inner reflections that meld childhood memories with everyday surroundings, routines and experiences, while artfully threading connections from past to pandemic times.

In this series of drawings, I am trying to juxtapose objects with my thoughts -- the ongoing realities,
the surroundings that echo within me.

In the daily ritual of my studio routine, there are a lot of chairs, out of which this one
is my favorite. The cushioning is soft.  With everyday sitting on the same chair comes
a different line of thought on my mind. “This day I came across me, as an artist”.

===============================================

For married women, there is a constant pressure of starting a family. This reminds me of the old
nostalgic days, when there used to be days-long power cuts with ladies of the families
sitting together with a wooden or cloth hand fan, talking about home stories,
starting a family, cooking, gossiping. This is my childhood representation.

===============================================

Being a fan of ‘Indian Classical Music’ and nostalgic memories, this artwork showcases the days of my
childhood when the brain and heart worked hand in hand. Nothing was calculative. There was
innocence in every aspect of life. I am trying to live in those faded memories of my life.

===============================================

The storage pot (Martaban Jar) here represents its own journey.  It is that one thing that sits in usually
every home kitchen and silently observes things around from dawn to dusk every single day, resting
on the same place. This has become our everyday life situation in the pandemic now.

===============================================

This artwork is made upside down to reflect the gone past days.

===============================================

This pandemic has surely turned the world upside down. However, on a brighter side, it has given a lot
to vent out. The mode of communication, the telephone, became a vital part of everyone's life.
The decreased honking sounds and pollution lead to clearer birds’ chirps and a clearer sky.
It feels like nature has an eye and it was the time for him to ring the bell.

================================================================

About the Artist

Yashika Sugandh, a visual artist based in Delhi – NCR, India, received her Master Fine Art Degree in 2017.  She also  began exhibiting her artworks professionally and received  the City Award for Delhi in Kalakand Art contest by Prafulla Dahanukar Art Foundation in  2017. Yashika’s work has been shown in group exhibitions with the India Art Fair, Birla Academy of art and culture, Jehangir Art Gallery, ICCR (Indian Council for Cultural Relations), Lalit Kala Akademi, IGNCA (Indira Gandhi National Center For The Arts), HT City Imagine Fest, Artbuzz Studios, Archna Wadhwa Gallery and Emergent Art Space.