Limited edition of 10
66 x 26", Framed
Print on archival paper
About the artwork
'This is not the countryside' is a commentary on the nuanced lives of Parisians. The current socio-political environment in Paris means that the people on the metro most likely represent ideologies that range from far right populists like stans of The National Rally to left socialists who campaigned for 'Free the nipple' movement or liberals who voted for Macron. Even so, each passenger on the train has a story that goes far beyond their political leanings. This is a story of the plurality of perspectives in the romantic capital of the world.
Time uncoils slowly, serenading its leaden steps with memories and provocations of our exacting minds. Who are we, if not time’s context, engraved into our cognizance? Much like time, the spaces we inhabit and the communities with whom we hold court, also affect the fragile planes of our consciousness.
Through portraiture, Ayesha attempts to shed a light on the complexity of presenting human narratives using a still image. She uses stitched dyptichs, timed intervals, contextualised surroundings and angled perspectives to demonstrate the meticulous work of time, space and community in building an identity for her subjects. One that urges the viewer to open up a boundless world of hypotheticals.
About the artist
Ayesha is a photographer, gallerist and strategy consultant. Her art practice focusses on capturing the essence of her subject’s sheeted context through the consummate lenses of time, space and community. To her, the medium of still image plays a subtle illusion on our minds, where we expect to find the truth of reality captured as-is, but instead all we find are clues and missing pieces to a human puzzle. Ayesha inquires beyond the boundaries of traditional portraiture in a way that champions serendipitous circumstance over intentional constructs.
Ayesha’s tryst with the arts began as a board director at Animate Projects, a not-for-profit that nurtures animation artists in the UK and works closely with The Wellcome Trust, Jerwood Arts and Arts Council UK. In 2019 Ayesha started Art and Charlie as a nomadic gallery that exhibited works of art in everyday spaces. The brand has now evolved into a culture house in the heart of Bandra, Mumbai, with regular art exhibits, design shop, live events and café. Prior to this, Ayesha has also worked across multiple industries in three continents as a strategy consultant at McKinsey & Co. and is a chartered accountant qualified in England.
Over the past 15 years, her artistic body of work spans over 30 countries, across five continents. Ayesha’s
last assignment was to photograph a National record holding ice skater as part of an expedition in Ladakh.
