On 16th March, 2026, I presented my art practice to the Undergraduate Fine Arts students of the Sushant School of Art & Architecture. After the brief interaction, we worked on the idea of
Juxtapose – Dislocate – Levitate – Metamorphose – Transform
A session on painted collages
Using the Surrealistic tropes of juxtaposition, dislocation, levitation, metamorphosis or transformation, the participants had to collage a systematic confusion. Then they were supposed to reiterate it by painting the collage as it is (Due to paucity of time, we didn’t take this up). In the process of transformation & translation several ideas came up. The politics of representation opened up in different ways.
A selection of works of artists from different time periods and geographical location including contemporary practices were shown to emphasize the use of visual allegory by artists in their work. Not necessarily Surrealists only, how artists often compose to create diverse meanings was touched upon. The found images contextualized from a very personal or individual space, the connection between the personal and the political also surfaced.
Collage and cutouts are a common and popular medium. Digitization has further transformed its possibilities. However, here more important was the conscious act of dislocating or juxtaposing or intentionally levitating and how that generates meanings and emotions.