An empty space. A blank canvas. Thin air. As you walk around and investigate the works of Shivani Aggarwal you will be confronted by works which encase, measure and capture emptiness and voids. What do we see when we see emptiness? How does it make us feel? Take a moment to pause and reflect on these questions…
For many, emptiness or voids have been considered as negative, a mental struggle presenting us with a space where something is missing. Yet emptiness gives us the clarity to think and breathe, generate and germinate new hopes and dreams. A clear space.
In this exhibition the artist proposes a new way of looking at emptiness: an everlasting space with infinite possibilities. Meticulously created during the pandemic, these artworks range from bold outlines on paper - defunct ordinary objects that measure and do nothing - to ‘malleable’ heavy wooden sculptures to the delicate copper-wire yarns, each stitch hand-crocheted by the artist. The latter being a sprawling, organic structure, twisting and turning, floating and dissecting space and time. Here, it has been arranged in such a way to allow the viewer to be immersed within the mesh-like cover, acting as a fragile, almost intimate shield between our inner and outer worlds.
Stand still. Then move slowly. Consider your own world of growth.
Uthra Rajgopal