Spaces Vol 1 Is 6

ART
Autumn 2002-Artist in
R e s i d e n c e
Program)Ashmina had
started to feel suffocated
by painting early in her
career, and influenced by
Andy Goldsworthy’s works
(consisting of only natural
materials), tried her hand
at earth works. About
‘Cultural Body Installation’
at the Siddhartha Art
Gallery in 2000, the artist
had this to say, “One may
adopt a new culture but
what one has had from
birth will always be within,
layering & intermingling”.
Various layers of materials
as those used for clothing
had been employed to
symbolize this fact. ‘Hair
Warp’ followed in the
same year. ‘Feminine
Fresco’ in New Delhi in
2002 was another display
of Ashmina’s extremely
candid opinions on
women’s sexuality. Her
installation titled, ‘Shakti Sworup-
Menstrual Blood’, arose from the artist’s
quest to ‘understand, express and visualize
the strong emotions stirred by flowing
blood, along with the fears associated
with it’ besides stressing home the point
that, ‘menstruation is a natural
phenomenon without which creation
would come to a standstill…full stop.’
Further reinforcing her versatility,
Ashmina says, “Medium is not a
confining factor with me. Medium is not
my master.” Many of her works are
described as mixed media and include
drawings, lithographs, oil on canvas,
acrylic on canvas and paper,
performances, and of course,
installations. Her ‘Uplift’ at the artist-inresidence
program in Japan in 2002,
featured a mixed media installation of
cloth, paint, color pigment, fishing line
and video projector. It is obvious that
the artist is very involved with the
Left: An evocative painting by an
evocative artist.
medium of art through installation where
mixed media, perforce, have to be
applied. Perhaps this rebelliousness to
escape from conventional art is the result
of a desire to develop a completely
different identity from those around her.
Ashmina’s father, Krishna Gopal Ranjit,
in his seventies now, is himself an artist
whose domain seems to be picturesque
scenes that echo serene tranquility in their
technically perfect method of artistic
execution. According to Ashmita, “At
present, artists here seem to be afraid
of taking risks. They should start coming
out of their comfort zones.”
Ashmina is a politically conscious artist
who likes to define herself as a humanist.
During an art event organized by Royal
Nepal Academy in 2002 titled
‘Disillusioned Present’, Ashmina’s
installation of scores of scattered shoes
on red painted floors of Durbar Square,
was meant to depict mass killings and
loss of identity due to the strife in the
country. More recently, in June 2005,
Ashmina presented a performance art
called ‘Tamas-The Darkness’ meant to
contrast hope and despair as symbolized
by light and darkness and pointedly
compared the state’s citizens to cows who
she describes as simple, docile and useful.
In 2001, she had participated in an
artistic protest condemning the
destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas in
Afghanistan. Here too, Ashmina’s
installation of 2500 bottled Buddha
26 SEP-OCT 2005 SPACES