A unqiue method to foster creativity is by transforming ordinary things into art. By exploring various common objects without any preconceived ideas, one can experience great freedom. One ought to just engage with the materials, contemplate their qualities, and re-interpret their inherent characteristics. Sarika Bajaj’s exhibition, Requiem, does that masterfully, featuring a collection of sensorial and tactile multi-media artworks created using bird feathers.

Sarika uses bird feathers as her preferred medium to highlight the environmental danger that birds face in a rapidly urbanizing world. The global concerns of climate change and habitat loss pose a significant threat to bird populations. Throughout history, birds have held great significance in human culture and mythology, with feathers being a key element. Feathers have been intricately woven into rituals worldwide and are believed to possess healing properties. Numerous cultures perceive birds as symbols of transcendence. The artist's inspiration for using feathers comes from the significance of birds in mythology and their ceremonial importance in Indigenous societies globally.

Sarika Bajaj’s works occupy an important liminal space between conventionally defined categories of art objects and everyday earthly objects. The bird quill sections in the tapestries are cleverly camouflaged within the patterns and textures of the panels, blending in with the membranes and threads. The artist creates a harmonious arrangement using different materials, contrasting the vibrant colored threads with the more subdued tones of the quills and jute fiber. The artist's method is a labour of patience and practice as it involves labor-intensive techniques of collecting, preparing, separating, cutting, sewing, knotting, and twisting of bird feathers to generate forms of distinct symbolism. It showcases the the reflective and calming nature of her artistic process. The visual grammar of the tapestries is derived from the artist's profound introspection.

Bajaj's art practice effectively expresses the cyclical patterns of life and the enduring strength of the natural world, both in terms of ideas and artistic techniques. Through her work, she symbolizes the interconnectedness of all things, using organic materials to create thoughtful structures that redefine our perception of the microcosm and macrocosm. Bajaj also explores the concepts of time and timelessness, often approaching them from a perspective as rhythmic and constant as breathing and movement.

With her ability to create an intuitive language and aesthetic for unconventional mediums, she has also explored expressing it through various forms, such as performative acts with (her)self. In her performance art piece titled The Passage, she wears a sculpted dress made out of bird feathers. The video of the performance will also be showcased at the exhibition.

Sarika Bajaj's performance view the body as a gateway to grasping fundamental truths, bridging the gap between the past and future, as well as this world and the multiverse. Her oeuvre serves as both a lament for our broken world and a sonnet, offering a path toward a more comprehensive approach to dealing with the present ecological and spiritual challenges in our society.

About the artist:

Sarika Bajaj, born in 1976 in Ghaziabad, India, obtained her Bachelor's degree in Fine Arts specializing in painting from Rachna Sansad, Mumbai in 2009. In 2017, she had her first solo exhibition titled Flight, which was curated by Anupa Mehta at The Loft in Lower Parel. Since then, Bajaj has actively taken part in various group exhibitions and art fairs. Through her artwork, Bajaj explores and emphasizes the diverse facets of the human connection with nature.

Requiem

Opening preview: 14th March, 2024

On view till: 30 April 2024

Time: 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM

Venue: Anupa Mehta Contemporary Art, Colaba, Mumbai

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