Review

Paper That Flows Into Shapes Known and Unknown

theartsgazette 2 months ago

Works in paper pulp by Ravi Kashi, on view at the exhibition ‘Shadows of Breath’ at Threshold Art Gallery, New Delhi.

Bengaluru-based Ravi Kashi squeezes paper out of a tube to create iconic works

If it is possible for our souls to liquify and float into another realm, taking us where we have never been before in our physical states, then it’s possible for paper to flow like liquid too. Watching it in shapes unimaginable for paper as we know it, is also an experience of another realm, as is the case at the ongoing show, ‘Shadows of Breath’ at Threshold Art Gallery at Sarvodaya Enclave, featuring works in paper pulp by Bengaluru-based Ravi Kashi.

The ingenuity of the works has to be felt to be understood while descending the steps to the gallery, a floating, ethereal, wispy white form greets the viewer. Getting closer reveals alphabets of Kannada language that are connected to each other to create a porous tapestry hanging in air, floating like a gently rising and falling wave. The light that interlaces the installation adds magic, giving the front space of the gallery the feel of a Mughal monument, evoking its carved marble lattices. The only difference is that Kashi’s undulating wave is not carved but squeezed out of a tube, as liquified paper pulp at a viscosity that allows it to not run away but take shapes that the artist wishes, in this case that of the letters of Kannada language.

Most of the works in the show, in fact, comprise installations that have Kannada alphabets as building blocks. I wonder if it is an allusion to the language politics that often rears its head in his hometown, which is also the centre of India’s ongoing IT revolution and concomitantly, an employer drawing people from outside Karnataka in large numbers; the preponderance of non-Kannada speaking people in the city, in turn, has nudged the local language a little off the centre. It’s not the politics alone, says Kashi. Letters of a language hold special meaning for the artist as he is as much a visual artist as a weaver of words. He holds an M.A. in English from Mysore University, besides a B.F.A. in Painting from College of Fine Arts, Bangalore, and an M.F.A. in Printmaking from M.S. University, Baroda. An artist, teacher and a writer, his Kannada book Kannele won the Karnataka Sahitya Academy award in 2015

Another work, featuring pages of a torn book that are also moth-eaten, but only seemingly so. Those are not pages gnawed at by time but letters joined to create porosity.

An installation that hangs like a large dry alabaster leaf catches attention for the bright red veins running through it. It almost looks visceral but Kashi explains that it is not an evocation of human viscerality but a map of Bengaluru with the thick veins alluding to the city’s main arteries that are now infamous for ceaseless traffic congestion.

What makes Kashi’s work more fascinating is not just its visual expression but also the process that goes into its making. He studied handmade papermaking at the Papermaking Resource, Glasgow, UK, and learnt Hanji, the traditional papermaking art of Korea at Jang Ji Bang, South Korea. Over the years, through innumerable experiments, Kashi has now perfected the exact viscosity he needs to run the paper pulp through a squeeze tube (collapsible tube) so that he can more easily control the shapes and sizes he wants to create as images reveal, the artist has succeeded in creating letters in very small sizes, literally paper thin that also hold their own when put together in a large installation

The exhibition is proof that human ingenuity can challenge any set norm, even that which has been set for thousands of years. But it is not just about the technicality. These three-dimensional installations also help the artist examine urban issues coherently, proving an able aid in critically examining questions that concern any sensitive artist living in a city in great flux, impacting everything we have known so far—from climate to urban spaces and psychology to relationships, ownership of land and other-ness, and so much more.

A version of this exhibition was held earlier this year at Museum of Art & Photography, Bengaluru, when one wondered if Kashi’s works in this genre could be seen in Delhi sometime. The Threshold Art Gallery show is a wonderful opportunity.