Lot 51: ANJU DODIYA (B. 1964)

ANJU DODIYA (B. 1964)
The Knotted Pause
signed, inscribed, titled and dated 'ANJU DODIYA 58" x 45" WATERCOLOUR + CHARCOAL ON PAPER 2008 TITLE: "THE KNOTTED PAUSE"' (on the reverse)
watercolor and charcoal on paper
58 x 45 in. (147.3 x 114.3 cm.)
Executed in 2008

Shanghai, Museum of Contemporary Art, India Xianzai, July - August 2009

India Xianzai, exhibition catalogue, Museum of Contemporary Art Shanghai, 2009, pp. 34 - 35 (illustrated)

Anju Dodiya's work deals with the artist's quest to constantly re-invent herself, often "[...] she teases and coaxes the image into birth, displaying her different selves before the viewer with wit, humour and ironic finesse [...]." (Nancy Adajania, Anju Dodiya, Max Mueller Bhavan, Mumbai, 1999, p. 1)
There is a certain iconography that repeats itself as the artist constantly re-works the canvas, often using the same objects and symbols in an attempt to create the perfect image. While the background may remain the same, it is her own role within the canvas that is constantly changing and ranges from more aggressive positions as we see here, to far more passive roles. "In her single-minded quest for the perfect image, Anju resembles the bhaktas who repeatedly invoke the presence of God in their own life-situations, pushing themselves to the edge of experience, tasting the flavour of God everywhere: through their quarrels, their flirtations with danger, their rage, their serenity [...]." (op. cit) The artist is both the creator and the subject of her constantly evolving canvas.