intimate spaces

Three Fold Accordion style Book
Mixed media drawing on paper

The last year has altered the idea of space and what it means to many of us with the onset of the pandemic; Homes that have been displaced and shifted bring up the question of belonging and un-belonging, and the only thing that eventually remains in our possession is memory of them. The house that we occupy has become indelibly etched in our minds, with every corner, everyline and every angle of our bedroom or living room, and the places in between, becoming a part of us.  The comfort yet confinement these spaces gave us, where we experienced the frustration and gratefulness of being inside, yearning to take a deep breath out in the open, to experience the great outdoors, left us in a tussle questioning what these places mean to us.

This work maps inside and outside spaces, with the desk where I have spent many months drawing and working as the central point; adjoining large windows and my bedroom where I looked out everyday and had the recurring desire to be outside in nature. This dream of the wilderness that was consuming my thoughts this past year was fulfilled as I finally sat amidst the tall deodar trees and listened to the sound of gurgling water that overlooked overarching mountains in Himachal.

When I left everything behind, the intimacy of home was replaced by the intimacy of nature. It had the same kind of solitude and quietness I had imagined finding as looking outside my bedroom window.