'Realm of midnight - I' by Meghna Singh Patpatia
49 x 29 inches, framed
Ink, gold leaf on paper and textiles
About the artist
She completed her education BFA (Major-Painting) from Sir. J.J School of Art in 2009. Followed by a Post-Graduation in Museology & Conservation studies in 2010 from the CSMVS Museum, Mumbai. Meghna’s art practice explores the study of natural formations and geological patterns. Her painted drawings are created using textured paper in layers on textile creating a fragile terrain, upon which she draws formations of natural elements that adapt to an ever-changing environment reflecting the fragility of our existence. In recent times she has been exploring working with mixed mediums including glass and found object assemblages that are more reflective of our confinement during the pandemic worldwide. Meghna lives and works in Bombay, India.
About the collection
“Look, up at the sky. There is a light, a beauty up there, that no shadow can touch.”- J. R. R. Tolkien
The landscapes that surround us are fragile, splendid and transient. The beauty of a luminous sky can only be marveled at from afar; what if we reached for the sun like Icarus did? Magic makes us believe in the impossible, giving rise to dreamlike imagery. Somewhere in these mountain pathways and streams we find ourselves immersing into these celestial reflections. Establishing an illusion of contact momentarily.
To skim the surface of the ocean, nor fly too close to the sun - were the instructions given to a winged Icarus. A parallel is drawn to the balance through adaptation that creatures around us endure due to human intervention. Our ecosystem and its intricacies create elusive poetry with changing light.
Surreal portals for Icarus have been rendered through anthropomorphic elements here. A record of our coexisting ecology through repetition of patterns. Those found in geological formations, glacier moraines, foliage and myriad surfaces. Navigation apparatus ferrying biodiversity undergoing transformative shifts. While sentient beings slowly edge towards extinction, these painted drawings render the marvel of balance in our existence and environment.
Winged beings soar, fall, flutter, their existential woes defined by trial and error.
