Lot 16: Jayashree Chakravarty , Space Within acrylic and glue on multilayered paper and fabric

acrylic and glue on multilayered paper and fabric

measurements 144 by 48 in. alternate measurements 365.8 by 122 cm.

In her large-scale 'scroll' paintings, Chakravarty creates elaborate maps of her own consciousness. The scrolls are composed of many layers of paper pasted together; the process allows them to be both opaque and yet translucent at the same time, as light passes through the thin layers or is blocked by the thicker areas. Images and ideas are thus both metaphorically and literally overlapped to form intriguing maps of the mind. 'The pictorial language of her works reflects her deepening inquiry into the secret life of memories, their pervasiveness and intensities. Disparate worlds are layered together with great panache - the effect of pigments, texture, personal and historical connotations, and the imagistic registers are orchestrated together in a magical network that creates a telling language of associations.' (Where the Sky Meets the Sand: Jayashree Chakravarty, Bodhi Art, New York, 2007). 'Using water-based paints, she piles images and incidents on top of one another, transforming the horizontal experience of passing along a city street into a vertical ascent up the confines of her paintings. Her streets flow like rivers through mazes of high-rises and tiny houses that seem to perch along the sides of the mountains which eventually form her landscapes. Her limited palette of blue, black and white emphasizes the graphic quality of her work, while ocher passages bring in a more realistic sense of landscape.' (Holland Cotter, "Art in Review, Jayashree Chakravarty," New York Times, May 17, 2002).