A Stunning Collage Art Series Celebrates Vintage Indian Imagery

Social media is undeniably the stream art is moving toward, as digital graphic design artists gain momentum and recognition for their work. While nothing can replace the sheer beauty of art in its raw, physical form, Sarah Kaushik has managed to find that rare grey area with her work—digital collages. Her work emphasizes on stark contrasts that build narratives in a two-dimensional space that fuses vintage Indian imagery with contemporary androgynous models. Popularly known as ‘The Big Eyed Collagist’, this scenographer elaborates on the story behind her name, “It’s more than just a mere stage name. It is an undeterminable identity to contradict our gender-biased society; almost a rebellion. My figures are dressed androgynously to transcend any gender expectations and stigmas attached to a specific gender.”

Her work emulates this exact notion by bridging the distinction between a man and a woman through the way we dress or look, as a satirical, pun-intended notion of portraying the very sad, abusive state of women, all across the globe. Kaushik didn’t start with scenography initially though, her interest was piqued during her studies in Product Design which gave her a sense of the application of design whilst considering specific spaces. “My approach to designing a product was with a sense of proportion and of purpose, implying an ability to visualize and foresee the grace or lack of grace with which it will yield itself. In time, I realised that it had to transform into a narrative, it had to be staged for the recipient to perceive it. This curiosity led me to this journey towards understanding scenography as a language,” she says.

Thus, she set on a journey to further understand the building of narrative experiences in 2010, with a scenographer in India. From a permanent exhibition that restored a heritage monument of its art and scenography at Asia’s largest Art Program at the Mumbai International Airport to Lighting Design and Environment Branding the artist has covered several bases. Her collages are truly what caught our eye although she says design is her primary profession—the collages are merely an extension of that.

Early 2016 marked the beginning of these powerful, provocative juxtapositions in single frames. Extensively drawing from vintage Indian imagery, scenarios are then created of our current times, sourced from the public domain. Talking about the process that goes into the collage, Sarah says, “The process of putting the elements together and arriving at a composition which is satisfactory, sometimes happens in a day, and sometimes takes days. Very often, the image I start with in the beginning, gets completely transformed towards the stage which I can call the final. The characters in my work take on lives of their own and I follow them, chancing upon varied topographies allowing diversity of meanings.”

Till date, Sarah’s favourite project remains ‘Eyes’ which stems from her own personal experiences, “Sometimes, there are eyes watching me from everywhere. These eyes are scrutinising every part of my body and I encounter them everywhere I go. I feel free, yet I am trapped, the only escape being the four-walled room where I can lock myself in and feel safe and free from the eye.”

Scroll on for a look at some of Sarah Kaushik’s work:

Keep up with Sarah and her work on Instagram or Facebook. If you’d like to purchase some of her work, click here.

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