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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
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