The fine art of doodling

The humble pen is Ashu Gupta's medium of choice and the artist evokes nostalgia with her latest work.

Ashu Gupta is a self-taught artist with a degree in interior design. She shifted careers when she moved to Bengaluru from Raipur around 10 years ago. “I’ve always been drawn to art and sketching and doodling has fascinated me long before I decided to delve into this profession full time. Doing it over the years has helped me create a niche,” she says.

Her style is based on patterns and repetition and characterised by her use of pen and ink. She started with pencils, but as her confidence grew, she took up the pen. “There’s no room for error when you’re working with a pen, especially on such intricate pieces. I took it up as a challenge for myself and it has now become my strength,” she explains.

A link through emotions

One would expect that her experience as an interior designer would inform her work, but Ashu thinks it’s the complete opposite. “An interior designer looks solely through the lens of aesthetics; she is drawn to work that fits best in a room. As an artist, I lay more emphasis on emotional connection. If the viewer connects with my work, it doesn’t matter what the room looks like; they would be happy to hang it up,” she says.

Her latest exhibition, that’s on display both online and offline at Artisera, is called Points and Perspectives. She delves into work that lays emphasis on playing with memories, emotion and nostalgia. It incorporates three series of works: Drishti — The Eye Series, Maati — The Human Connect and Nishabdh — The Silent Objects.

In Drishti, each ‘eye’ is divided into what looks like a birth chart and is populated with objects or people. Each of these has been carefully picked to evoke a sense of nostalgia and intricately sketched with small circular motions and points. “It took a lot of research to figure out what objects to include. The work is extremely personal as much of the memory that informs my work is my own; there are images and items from my own childhood and the common childhood of many that grew up in India during the 70s and 80s,” she says.

Relics from the past

Nishabhd too, relies on nostalgia. Relics from the past, of which many survive only in our memories, are etched on the leaves of history books. The added detail lends personality to the pieces.

Maati is the simplest of the lot, deceptively so. Some of the work is made with over 20,000 individual hand-drawn circles. The work is meant to draw parallels between the human race and the matkas. Ashu chose earthen pots as her symbol as she believes both us and the pots start from the Earth and eventually end up there. “The circles used in the work emphasise the cyclical nature of almost everything around us. I’ve used them to depict individuality, resilience, confusion and other states of mind,” she says.

She began work on the collection in December and finished by mid-July. “The pieces could take at least 20-25 days to complete due to the level of detailing required. The pandemic definitely helped speed up the process as I had no other distractions,” she says.

The exhibition, which is on from August 1 to August 20, had sold four of it’s 12 pieces by the second day. “I was nervous about having a solo show during the pandemic, but the reception has been so warm. I was also very lucky to have partnered with a gallery that has a deep understanding of the online space,” she says.

In the same breath though, she adds that it can never replace a physical space. “There is a charm in interacting with art face-to-face, it provides an irreplaceable connection. We’ve set up installations with the work for those who would be able to make it to the gallery,” she adds.

She is currently working on a show that further explores the capacity of the pen. “I’m hoping to do more installations and work with more materials such as textiles. I want to look back after 25 years knowing I’ve pushed myself and explored everything I could,” she says.

The show can be viewed online at www.artisera.com from August 1-20. Physical viewing is only by appointment. For more information, contact 78998 82277.