Jayesh Sachdeva’s ongoing show titled “Oorja” at Mumbai’s Tao Art Gallery is a blast of colours for the senses. The collection of two diptychs, four fiber glass statues and eight canvases are the artist’s interpretations of visual story telling. “Whether it is a sculpture, or a fabric, or a painting, I essentially enjoy visual story telling. These are different mediums for me,” says Jayesh Sachdeva.
Sachdeva is a national award winning artist, designer and creative entrepreneur. He is the curator of the fashion and lifestyle label QuirkBox, as well as the branding agency Quirk Box Design Studio. According to Sachdeva, fashion is an extension of art, so when he did fashion it was about making art wearable and accessible. “Everyone can’t take a painting home, but everyone can take a shirt home. That was the idea. So I see them as different mediums of being a story teller,” he says.
Much of Sachdeva’s work is popular culture inspired with a lot of comic book iconography. The works draw inspiration from powerful symbols in Indian culture, weaving together a tapestry of cultural narratives and universal energy. For instance, the paintings titled ‘Oceanic Odyssey’, which depict a large Ganesh. Or take the Kali works titled ‘Kali’s reign’ and Tidal surge: Kali and Dawson’. Here, Kali resembles Super Woman. “Kali is always very religious, but Kali is also a philosophy,” says Sachdeva. “So I take a philosophy or what she represents, and I bring her in an urban context. She is always with a tiger, fierce, seen to come back to destroy evil and what are the demons that she is slaying is actually within us. That’s the play,” he adds. The fact that she looks a lot like superwoman in his works, “Its glorifying her into a super hero status, treating her as a philosophy. It is adding persona to it,” says Sachdeva. It is very impactful.
A surprise form in Sachdeva’s work is the cow. Cows are commonly seen in Pichwai works, but not very common in works of contemporary art. “My work has always been about ways of interpreting things that we see every day. It’s about new storytelling,” he says. “Every story that we know has been retold in a million ways. It’s interesting each time in a different. So I’m not trying to reinvent the wheel, but spin it differently,” he adds.
To add a new layer to the art and make it interactive, visitors are invited to touch the works, especially the diptych titled ‘Gauhu (II)’. “With every touch, a unique sound or song is activated, making the audience part of the artwork itself. I believe this interactive experience will redefine how we connect with art. It’s a new layer of art,” says Sachdeva.
The show is on at Tao Art Gallery till November 2, 2024.
MIND BOGGLING FOR OLD EYES TO PEEP INTO A DIFFERENT CONCEPT FOR OLD KNOWN SUBJECTS. THOUGH VERY INTERESTING AND YET VERY NEW OFFERING OF SORTS. I AM ON A HIGH WITH KALI THE NEW WONDER WOMAN, GANESH’S ODYSSEY ON SEA. I MISS ALL THESE NEW GENERATIONS DARING FLIGHTS OF FANCY WITH GUSTO.