A City of Illusions
Hemant Gavankar
I was born and brought up in Mumbai. I still live and practice in this city. Since my earliest memories of this place till today, there have been many changes on various levels. City as an experience feels different with each change, especially during nights. These changes have been part of my observational journey: Spartex flooring replacing terrazzo tiles, glass walls replacing brick walls, incandescent bulbs first replaced by CFLs and later by LEDs, both in the interiors and the streets, and the modern minimalist buildings replacing colonial and early post-independence structures.
I find it interesting that all these periods of cultural and visual changes which the city has gone through still exist simultaneously. Somewhere in some corner suddenly one gets the glimpse of this layered past. While travelling in the city and its outskirts, I photograph these subtle differences which give an account of different time frames. If a visual or a thought stays with me for long enough, I try to interpret the same. A few times my reaction is spontaneous. Most of my recent works are paintings in mix media and I have used collage in some of the experiments to form the layers that I experience everywhere.
Architecture has always been a prominent symbol of power and I think, it is one of the major reasons why Mumbai is fantasized the way it is. In my work, I sometimes compare the modern glass homes to Mayasabhā from Māhābhārata while sometimes I depict the friction between older and new structures in the city and suburbs. In some works, I try to juxtapose the outcome of constant struggle between desire for comfort and conscious consideration for the betterment of a degrading environment that mankind is currently going through. The natural elements are brought to interiors as if maintaining a balance. An illusion of paying off for the space consumed by humans and letting nature take a limited control over human constructions.
My observations have been analytical. When I try to analyse the changing landscape around me, I think of the timeline by imagining the past, then feel the present in front of me and later think about the time to come. I always go through a unique experience during this process. Also, a few questions rise in my mind; is the change so gradual that it feels easy? Orone here is so used to it that it is always ready for the same? Oreach paradox later gets ignored and slowly fades to become just another coexistence? I try to address such dualities through my work.
