SAREENA ​KHEMKA

portfolio of artworks by contemporary artist, sareenak Eloquent Litte Things On The Persistence Of Memory Play Video Share Whole Channel This Video Facebook Twitter Pinterest Tumblr Copy Link Link Copied Search videos Search video... Now Playing talkpart1 - SD 480p 29:59 Play Video Now Playing talkpart2 - SD 480p 29:59 Play Video Now Playing talkpart3 - SD 480p 23:48 Play Video ( Go to the next page to see the last video, where the artists are introducing there work in a walkthrough ). The Floor Keeps Count A solo show by Sareena Khemka This event marked the closing of Sareena Khemka’s solo exhibition The Floor Keeps Count, curated by Adwait. The teatime conversation brought together Ananya Gautam ( Visual Artist ), Dr. Ishita Dey ( Sociologist ), and Sareena Khemka ( Visual Artist ), moderated by Anshika Varma ( Artist & Curator ). Held on Saturday, 7 March at Exhibit 320, New Delhi, the discussion engaged with multiple dimensions of memory, drawing into productive tension—and occasional convergence—diverse artistic and analytical approaches to its conservation and reconstruction. The exchange reflected on themes such as sensory labour, maternal bonds, the emotional economy of caregiving, the nature of grief, notions of inheritance, and the afterlife of objects that once functioned as coordinates within a personal web of meaning. . Between The Nooks & Crannies (Detail View) Mixed media on paper, 48" x 36", 2020 Click here to see Full Image

remnants1front_1 remnants1leftangle_2 remnants1leftangle_7 remnants1topangle_medres Relics of the past 1 & 2 are small casted sections from a larger architectural capital, remnants of decayed objects that have lived on in this sculptural form resembling a decayed organic form that may have grown and morphed over a period of time like an old piece of architecture that lies exposed to nature and the elements . It bears the nostalgia of the past, yet is preserved in time. The two stone pieces titled 'Mining the Earth's Mantle,' are casted from moulds of construction stones that are used in buildings. The idea of representing these building materials as pieces of the earths crust and preserving them as relics, subverts the very idea of a relic and questions what is important to preserve and more importantly what is left to do so in the current 21st century of building and rebuilding cities where everything is temporal and in modes of re- construction. Remnants remnants2front_1 remnants2_sideangle_medres remnants2bottomleftangle_4

mixed media painting on paper by sareena khemka The God Complex, Mixed Media on Paper, 5 Ft. x 5 Ft. Mumbai 2013 The God Complex Mixed media on paper. 5ft. x 5ft. Mumbai 2013. The God Complex Detail 1 The God Complex Detail 2 THE GOD COMPLEX Based on a map of Mumbai, this works is inspired by the satirical maps printed during the World War in Europe. The works depicts a dichotomy between filth & glitz, with the man in the suit & cape being a symbol of power, wealth & strength. Subverting the idea of what a 21st century superhero may represent in a growing urbanisation , the work refers to an iconic and infamous piece of architecture of Mumbai, weaving a narrative of a city with stark contradictions, abstracting and layering materials using drawn and painted images of architectural forms and organic decay.

paintings by sareena khemka 8Th Island of Mumbai Discriminates 12 Ft x 4 Ft Triptych, Mixed media on Canvas, Mumbai 2014 The 8th Island Detail 1 Panel 1 of 3 4ft x 4 ft The 8th Island Detail 2 Panel 2 of 3, 4 Ft x 4 Ft The 8th Island Detail 3 Panel 3 of 3, 4 Ft x 4 Ft Elevated Within Lost Foundations Mixed Media on Canvas 38" x 28" x 2," Mumbai 2014 Elevated Within lost Foundations Detail 1 875 Square Inches of the City Mixed Media on Canvas 38" x 28" x 2," Mumbai 2014 Gates to Heaven Mixed media on canvas 5ft x 3ft x 2," Mumbai 2014 Gates to Heaven Detail Mapping the terrain 1 Drawing on old stamp paper from Rajasthan with found text (dated approx. 125 years old) 14" x 9" 2013 Mapping the Terrain 3 Mixed media on an old map of India. 16" x 10," Mumbai 2013 Mapping the Terrain 5 Mixed media on Nepalese paper, 15" x 11," Mumbai 2014 THE 8TH ISLAND OF MUMBAI DISCRIMINATES These series of works based on Bombay, tell narratives of a city through its architectural history, following a similar colour palette of browns, greys, copper, blue & white. The blue shapes & colour represent the slums, being synonymous with the tarp covers that make the roofs of the slum housing. Specs of orange painted in some of the works are symbolic of the political influence in the city. Several of the works such as 'Gates to Heaven' and 'The 8th Island Discriminates,' are a comment on the gated communities that lure people with tag lines such as "Reside in new heights of happiness". Being self-sufficient like small kingdoms they hide the poverty, disparity and filth that surrounds them and promise a better life. A few of the works such as 'Elevated within new foundations,' and '875 square inches of the city,' reference old and new architecture with geometric lines, patterns and shapes interconnecting to reflect an urban space. Motifs and patterns of Indian design are block printed and painted on contrasted with contemporary designs that reflect the rich culture of the country and my biography as an artist, with the series of works such as 'mapping the terrain,' created on old maps and stamp paper.

painting by sareena khemka Mapping the Terrain 7 Mixed media on paper 53" x 39" Mumbai 2017 Mapping the terrain 7 Detail 1 Mapping the terrain 7 Detail 2 Mapping the terrain 7 Detail 3 Mountains in Mumbai 7 5ft x 3ft Mixed media on paper Mumbai 2014 Mountains in Mumbai 7 Detail 1 Mountains in Mumbai 7 Detail 2 Mountains of Mumbai 6 Mixed media on paper 10" x 18" Mumbai 2014 Mountains of Mumbai 5 Mixed media on paper 10" x 18" Mumbai 2014 Mountains of Mumbai 3 Mixed media on paper 10" x 18" Mumbai 2014 Mountains of Mumbai 4 Mixed media on paper 10" x 18" Mumbai 2014 Mountains of Mumbai 2 Mixed media on paper 10" x 18" Mumbai 2014 Based on loose maps of Mumbai, these works draw influence from the art deco architecture of the city that co-exists with dense urban colonies of slums and tall skyscrapers that are abstracted and flattened into interconnecting geometric shapes.Organic forms that flow and seep into cracks and crevasses morphing into different patterns and shapes, are derived from imagery of decaying matter that forms islands and hills in the city of waste. This is contrasted with shimmering colours and landscapes that have been inspired by rock crystals sold on the streets of the city that resemble a microcosm of dense urban colonies and strive to find their space in these built landscapes. This dichotomous nature of the city and its various influences are depicted through these works, through identifiable forms of architecture, its dense urban spaces that exist amidst visible contradictions. Mapping The Terrain

Microcosm 1 Detail 1 4 inch" Diameter. Air borne bacteria in petri dish with left to right 1 & 2, Copper Sulphate crystal, agar and resin, 3. Agar & resin. Lit in Led light box. Microcosm 1 Detail 2 4 inch" Diameter. Air borne bacteria in petri dish with left to right 1. Copper Sulphate crystal, agar and resin 2. Agar & Resin 3. Scrap Metal, Agar, resin & ink. Lit in Led light box. Microcosm 1 Detail 3 Air borne bacteria, Copper Sulphate crystal, agar and resin - Natural Light Microcosm 1 Detail 3 Lit in a led light box Microcosm 1 Detail 4 Air borne bacteria, Copper Sulphate crystal, agar and resin - Natural Light. Microcosm 1 Detail 4 Lit in a led light box Microcosm 1 Detail 5 Scrap Metal, Air borne bacteria from the metal, Agar, resin & ink. Natural light. Microcosm 1 Detail 5 Close up image - Lit in Led light box. Microcosm 1 Detail 6 Air borne bacteria, Copper Sulphate crystal, agar and resin, Lit in a led light box. Microcosm 1 Detail 7 Sample lab bacteria, Scrap metal, resin. Lit with led light box. Microcosm 2 2"x 2"x 1" Air borne bacteria with 1. Copper sulphate, agar & resin & ink 2. Alum, copper Sulphate, resin, ink 3. Bath tile, agar & resin & ink 4. Scrap metal, agar & resin & ink 5. Cement, agar & resin 6. Agar, resin & metal dust. Microcosm 2 Detail 1 2"x 2"x 1" ( Back Angle Naturally Lit ) Left to right: Air borne bacteria with 1. Alum, agar & resin & ink 2. Cement, agar & resin 3. Scrap metal, cement, agar, resin & ink 4. Bath tile, agar & resin & ink 5. Agar, resin & metal dust. Microcosm 2 Detail 3 Air borne bacteria with Alum, agar & resin & ink Microcosm 2 Detail 4 Air borne bacteria with Scrap metal, cement, agar & resin & ink (Front) Microcosm 2 Detail 4 Air borne bacteria with Scrap Metal, Cement, agar, resin & ink. (Back) Microcosm 2 Detail 5 Air borne bacteria with bath tile, ink, resin Future Relics Of Pasts Forgotten 8" x 8" Copper sulphate crystals, resin, scrap metal, metal dust in led light box. Future Relics Of Pasts Forgotten Detail of Stone: Copper Sulphate crystals, resin, cement, ink Copper Sulphate Crystals 3 Growing process of crystals in glass vat Future Relics Of Pasts Forgotten 8" x 8" Copper sulphate crystals, resin, scrap metal, metal dust in led light box. 1/6 MICROCOSMS : Urban Science & Art Lab Experiments in bacterial growth began as a pilot project with the aid of a scientist to look at microcosms and how they effect the morphology of an object and transform its surface. This project came into being in studying decay and where it could be preserved using small objects like scrap metal, cement and crystal lised forms. Bacteria was taken from the air and some test lab samples and then combined with these objects to see its evolution. The process of crystallisation came into being when looking at natural forms like rock crystals resembling dense urban colonies surviving in built man made spaces and the dichotomy between the natural and man-made and the question of what is important to preserve in our environment. Having collected and studied them over time and used them in drawings and paintings as source of inspiration, growing them in the studio came as a natural progression and started to become a part of a narrative for sculptural objects. Preserving these fragile environments that would evolve and transform came with its own challenges and questioned the temporal and fragile nature of urban spaces and the living organisms within it that have the ability to evolve as microorganisms and change things at the macro level.

sareena khemka's artworks Sareena Khemka’s current practice explores urban spaces through dichotomous ideas of construction and destruction, preservation and regeneration, man-made and organic environments, creating transformative spaces and objects that recall historical ruins and geological formations that have the potential for material evolution. Mapping cityscapes through narratives of its past and the future, her preoccupation with building a research-based practice on the subject has led her to work with several mediums that started with drawing and now includes sculpture, found object, sound and light, merging science and technology into her creative process. Having lived in several large metropolitan cities such as Chicago, Kolkata, Bombay & Bangalore, she is drawn towards the architecture of spaces and its contradictory nature. Through her new works, the artist questions the permanence and temporality of urban spaces, in using objects from the city that are going through forms of ruination and decay by preserving or regenerating them as well as building new ones that resemble modern ruins. From casting remnants of old architectural capitals that will decay over time and creating relics of its parts, to stones of construction rocks that lie in heaps all over the city, resembling the earth’s crust, her works call on the urgency of preservation while reforming the status of relics, moving beyond nostalgia and despair of lost heritage, re- imagining them as seeds of a new kind of modernity. Khemka’s fascination with rock crystals began In Mumbai where they were commonly being sold on street corners that reminded her of a microcosm of urban colonies forming specific patterns of organised chaos; they exist against all odds in the midst of cities as fragments of a landscape that was, or a future of what could be, like fossils or the rings of a tree. They emphasise the tumultuous relationship between man-made spaces and what we hold precious to those found in nature. Inspired by those crystals, these fragile environments came into being with Copper Sulphate and alum crystals grown in various shapes and sizes, preserved in resin onto the sculptural surfaces. Bacteria like rock crystals are microscopic in nature yet have the ability to significantly alter the materiality of a surface; In collaboration with a scientist, bacterial culture has been sampled from the air as well as objects like rusted metal, cement tiles etc., preserved in resin to see how all of these materials interact with each other and change when placed in different environments and temperature changes in the atmosphere, altering the colour of the objects and perhaps even bringing out new forms of growth over time, allowing an evolutionary process to some of the works. After a year-long investigation into these various material and growth processes, drawing that forms the foundation of the artists process has now started to seep onto all the sculptural forms growing and spreading like a decaying organism on these built broken environments, creating fragmented landscapes. The artist’s earlier drawings mapped this disorder and chaos of urbanised cities by connecting three-dimensional objects and forms with these geological rock crystals and decaying organic matter, flattening them into intricate patterns and networks. Her current works stem from the same ideas, progressing into a more immersive practice, where Sareena builds layers of complex and unforgiving materials to create intricate forms that come together in a versatile manner that calls for speculation and reflection. ARTIST'S STATEMENT

abstract drawings on paper by sareena khemka In Between Solid & Liquid Mixed media on paper 38" x 28" Mumbai 2011 All material things melt Mixed Media on paper 38" x 28" Mumbai 2011 Where all darkness resides Mixed media on paper 38" x 28" Mumbai 2011 Untitled (1) Mixed Media on Paper 23" x 20" Mumbai 2011 ALL MATERIAL THINGS MELT An urban environment is always in a constant state of ‘decay ,’ where all material forms eventually disintegrates, deform and fuse into these unrecognisable organic forms of matter. This is visible particularly in densely packed metropolitan cities of India. The imagery in these works in drawn form studies of piles of decay from dump sites and the state that is between the process of something disintegrating and deforming depicted through layers of drawing and collage. In the case of the last two images in this series where there are human forms immersed within these spaces, the works represent the darkness of living in these kind of apocalyptic spaces and the nature of these landscapes.

Relics Of The Past (1) Left View, Naturally lit. Cast resin, cement, ink & metal dust, 9” x 7” x 5” (Bangalore, 2018) Relics Of The Past (1) Right View Relics Of The Past (1) Top Angle Relics Of The Past (1) Bottom Angle Relics of the past (2) Left View, Naturally lit. Cast resin, ink & metal dust, 7” x 5” x 4” (Bangalore, 2018) Relics of the past (2) Right View Relics of the past (2) Side Angle Relics Of The Past (2) Bottom Angle Mining The Earth’s Mantle (1) Natural Lit, Cast resin, ink & metal dust, 10”x 5” x 3” (Bangalore, 2018) Mining The Earth’s Mantle (1) Top View Mining The Earth’s Mantle (1) Detail Image Mining The Earth’s Mantle (2) Naturally lit, Resin & ink 9” x 5” x 4” (Bangalore, 2018) Relics of the past 1 & 2 are small casted sections from a larger architectural capital, remnants of decayed objects that have lived on in this sculptural form resembling a decayed organic form that may have grown and morphed over a period of time like an old piece of architecture that lies exposed to nature and the elements . It bears the nostalgia of the past, yet is preserved in time. The two stone pieces titled 'Mining the Earth's Mantle,' are casted from moulds of construction stones that are used in buildings. The idea of representing these building materials as pieces of the earths crust and preserving them as relics, subverts the very idea of a relic and questions what is important to preserve and more importantly what is left to do so in the current 21st century of building and rebuilding cities where everything is temporal and in modes of re- construction. Relics Of The Past

Between the nooks & crannies Mixed media drawing on paper. 9 panel 16" x 12" each Total size 48" x 36" approx. 2020 Between the nooks & crannies (panel 1) 16" x 12" Between the nooks & crannies (panel 2) 16" x 12" Between the nooks & crannies (panel 3) 16" x 12" Between the nooks & crannies (panel 4) 16" x 12" Between the nooks & crannies (panel 5) 16" x 12" Between the nooks & crannies (panel 6) 16" x 12" Between the nooks & crannies (panel 7) 16" x 12" Between the nooks & crannies (panel 8) 16" x 12" Between the nooks & crannies (panel 9) 16" x 12" The work draws on the process of deep mapping using imagery from memory and imagination of aerial maps from dense urban cities such as Bombay, interspersed with imagery of natural rock crystals to create a dichotomous space. Drawing the space was akin to navigating the streets, through its nooks and crannies of various turns and bends, where one needs to delve further and lose oneself, much like one would, navigating the city. Making the work was as much a process of navigating metaphysical spaces within the mind as it was visualizing physical ones. Between The Nooks & Crannies

landscapeofloss landscapeoflossanddecay_detail4 liminalscapes1-detail3 landscapeoflossanddecay_detail2 landscapeoflossanddecay_detail3 Landscape of Loss Avenir Light is a clean and stylish font favored by designers. It's easy on the eyes and a great go-to font for titles, paragraphs & more. liminalscapes1 liminalscapes1-detail2 Describe your image liminalscapes1-detail1 Describe your image liminalscapes1 1/3 Liminal Scapes liminalscapes2 liminalscapes2-detail1 Describe your image liminalscapes2-detail2 Describe your image liminalscapes2 1/4 The work draws on the process of deep mapping using imagery from memory and imagination of aerial maps from dense urban cities such as Bombay, interspersed with imagery of natural rock crystals to create a dichotomous space. Drawing the space was akin to navigating the streets, through its nooks and crannies of various turns and bends, where one needs to delve further and lose oneself, much like one would, navigating the city. Making the work was as much a process of navigating metaphysical spaces within the mind as it was visualizing physical ones. In between the Cracks & Fissures faultlines_2 faultlines_2b faultlines1 copy faultlinesdetail1 faultlines1detail

Mountains in Mumbai, Mixed Media on paper, 6ft. x 5ft. Mumbai 2011. Mountains in Mumbai 1 Mixed media on paper. 6ft x 5ft. Mumbai 2012. Mountains in Mumbai 1 Detail 1 Mountains in Mumbai 1 Detail 2 Mountains in Mumbai 1 Detail 3 MOUNTAINS OF MUMBAI The title of this work is repeated in several other works to come in different forms and colours, commenting on the idea of a mountain - a natural landscape and what that may mean in the context of a built up urbanised city. Natural formations such as hills and mountains are replaced by heaps of decaying matter and take up a new meaning of a landscape. The study of decaying forms that lie in dumpsites through the city forms the mountains in this work and is a study of those forms. With layered drawings and collage that build up this vast space, along with illegible text on a small excerpt on 'filth' that is meant not be discerned, the work questions our perception of landscapes and subverts its idea through these man-made forms.