Through masks and reminiscences, this artists solo present in Hyderabad tells a narrative of resilience

Artist Anupama, who goes by the identify Anupama alias Anil as a tribute to her late husband and artist Anil Xavier, ushers in a brand new language of expression via her solo present A Room for Refuge at Kalakriti Art Gallery. The exhibition brings her blended media works and assemblages, every formed by private experiences.

Her mixed-media works are populated with self-portraits carrying masks, set in opposition to summary, layered landscapes that symbolically mirror the complexities of the thoughts — interwoven with ideas, reminiscences, and lived moments.

Recurring motif

Anupama typically makes use of her personal face as a recurring motif, however her work additionally references the broader expertise of womanhood. “I’m a part of it, however there are others too,” she says, positioning herself as each topic and collective voice. This introspective journey started in 2014 throughout what she calls an “intense time” in Hyderabad. Alone in her studio, she discovered herself conversing inwardly, as tales and characters from her childhood merged right into a fusion of feelings and creativeness. The expertise, she recollects, was “intense however blissful” — a second that blurred the strains between particular person and collective expertise and impressed her to discover deeper themes of interiority and existence.

Mixed-media works

While pursuing her Master’s in Fine Arts at Hyderabad Central University, Anupama started to have interaction with concepts of womanhood, femininity, and the social realities of ladies. She sourced rice paper from Kolkata to create depth and layering in her mixed-media works — a course of that, for her, grew to become symbolic of self-discovery. “I felt like a lady whose flesh slowly uncovered the layers,” she says, referring to her Island of Hope sequence.

Her early influences embody the putting African masks she encountered on the Louvre Museum in Paris, and Theyyam, the ritual artwork type of Kerala the place performers put on elaborate masks and headdresses. For Anupama, the masks symbolises transformation and energy. “It makes the performer a divine being who transcends to a different realm,” she explains. “The viewers too experiences a form of social transformation — in that second, the boundaries and inequalities between them and the performer dissolve.”

Anupama’s work not solely explores vulnerability and transformation but additionally the emergence of id and hope. In her analysis on masks, she examined the histories of Latin American cultures and their deeply rooted perception programs. “The girls I depict could have vulnerabilities and face challenges, however additionally they bear transformation. The masks turns into a logo of energy — a option to lead, to decide on,” she notes.

Among probably the most private items within the exhibition is a portrait of a Malayali couple from the Nineteen Eighties — a self-portrait together with her late husband Anil, wearing conventional apparel, with a trunk field positioned in a nook of the canvas. The assemblages displayed within the present are drawn symbolically from this very field, holding fragments of reminiscence and emotion.

“My husband Anil, who handed away in 2024, was an important inspiration,” she says. “He was the co-sculptor of the statue of Rohit Vemula (the Dalit scholar whose demise at Hyderabad Central University sparked nationwide protests in opposition to caste discrimination). I got here from an utilized arts background and wasn’t certain of my creative route, however he was the one who inspired me to pursue it.”

A Room for Refuge is on view at Kalakriti Art Gallery till November 5.