Samit Das challenges the ideas of development and growth within our cities and societies. The term ‘developed’ suggests the sense of being at the cutting edge or having made a successful transition from one stage to the next. Das demonstrates what impact development and growth has upon our surroundings and therefore affecting our lives. Multilayered and focusing strongly on architecture, Samit Das’s work incorporates collage and laser engraving techniques, and could even be considered sculptural as some pieces are three dimensional due to the layering process that is used. Images of buildings and architecture are numerously layered creating a dynamic expansion across the surface of the piece mimicking the movements of construction in cities such as Bombay and Delhi. Das plays with the idea of the new waves of development consuming the old and traditional. With the constant drive for capital gain and expansion, Das highlights how we could be creating our own downfall through the motion of continually striving for more. His work can appear apocalyptic and this is clear in a photographic piece entitled ‘Goddess’, where what appears to be a sculpture of a Hindu goddess is left smashed on the ground surrounded by rubble. Whether this relates to the infrastructure of Asia, or how religion has been adapted to meet people’s needs in a new society is debatable and could even refer to both. However what is clear is the emphasis on fast change and how constant development does not remove all traces of what was there before. It questions whether this trend in development is just a spurt or whether people no longer feel attached and precious towards their traditions and heritage despite being seen as valuable for such considerable time.
”home” is the latest exhibition to feature at Airspace gallery in Stoke-on-Trent. Kashif Nadim Chaudry, Samit Das, Chinmoyi Patel, Hetain Patel and Harminder Singh Judge explore their identities as well as their cultural and traditional heritage through their individual creative practice. With each artist being connected to Asian descent, ”home” highlights the theme of personal identity and development when being associated to multiple cultures and the boundaries and opportunities that can be presented as a result.
Kashif Nadim Chaudry displays strong influences from his family history of tailoring and trade, this being seen through the use of materials in his work as well as the techniques employed to create them. ‘Sanctuary’ is a sculpture piece which clearly defines the artist’s interest in Islam and the architecture that is also associated with religious areas of Asia. Wood and cotton are beautifully combined to create a piece which demonstrates gothic and Islamic architecture as well as demonstrating his personal experiences of travelling, religion and traditional textiles. Even though the sculpture stands approximately 100cm tall, the grandness and importance of the monolithic structures in this piece is apparent. This relates to the artist’s strong religious upbringing and the level of importance this poses in his life. The cotton has been carefully dyed burgundy and presented carefully to create a flowing draping effect around the four main structures. With this particular colour symbolising purity in India, this only emphasises the religious references contained within the piece. The elegance of the draping cotton is also further accentuated through the use of this particular tone and helps to suggest movement, possibly linking to the artist’s experience with travelling or even suggesting the influence that religion has over people and how this flows throughout their day to day lives. ‘Enter’ is a textile piece created from machine tufted wool and synthetic fibres. With the artist’s family having a successive tailoring background, the importance of selected materials and how they are used are clearly important and something the artist feels he wants to carry on in his own work. You are enticed to explore the varying textures of the materials and the change in shape, colour and texture, especially towards the centre of the piece, only encourages this further. This could link with the artist’s drive to explore his culture and identity as well as the areas from where this originated from.
