First Year at University...
My first year in Fine Art so far has been creatively challenging. I think that the surrounding of an artists space majorly affects the way the artist feels, and the campus being so full of colour only brings creative and positive vibes.
Being an International student comes with the perks having a different cultural background that others may or may not be aware of. The most exciting aspect of it is to be able to use the cultural knowledge in artworks and stun the audience. I find it interesting to use my origin and knowledge of the Indian colonial history, the British Raj, the piece of history that ties Britain and India together, in my work. Ironically bringing forward the cruel colonial doings of my place of residence in the moment to my place of origin.
Focusing on the changes brought to India during the colonial time, I decided to enlighten the existence of architectural symbolism before and after the colonial rule. Inspired by Taj Mahal’s beautiful geometrical construction, I made this piece called the Reflective Mausoleum. Creating such a positive aura around the piece to justify the beauty of Taj wasn’t an easy task.
One semester ended and a new one began..
Continuing the journey of colonial history, this semester I decided to do something a bit more personal. ‘It ain’t so pretty’ is a mix media wallpaper consisting of 58 tiles, some designed and inspired by William Morris’ wallpaper designs and Indian motif designs.
When you look at it from far away it looks like a beautiful wallpaper, reminding the viewer of their comfortable home but as soon as you look at the tiles individually, they represent the horrific colonial British Raj in India. The context of this wallpaper is very personal to me since I am only the second generation ever to have lived in total independence. My grandfather has faced all the cruelty and selfish decisions laid onto the Indians by the British and often recites the stories to me. So this work is dedicated to all those who spent their lives fighting for Independence and especially my Grandfather who took part in independence movements alongside Jawaharlal Nehru and Mahatma Gandhi.
One of the main changes made by the British was the compulsion of English Language and that led to a near death of regional languages. Indians were forced to learn English and hence my wallpaper forces the viewer to learn Hindi in order to completely understand it.
In addition to all the work that we did during the course, I got appointed as India’s Country Ambassador at Arts University Bournemouth! Never been so excited! And ever since I have been trying to help as many prospective students as I can, hence the blog, and I’ve been planning and hosting events on campus, like Holi.
So yeah, been a perfect 1st year overall.
What is/was your university experience like?