Contemporary artist Tahireh Lal’s ‘Phototrope’ is a series of installations inspired by the world around him
Contemporary artist Tahireh Lal’s ‘Phototrope’ is a series of installations inspired by the world around him
Inspiration can come at any time; What is mundane for one may be useful for another. While walking through the wildlife corridor in Kaziranga National Park, artists were mesmerized by the glow of the reflectors on Tahireh Lal Road. “We often see it in cities, but in the thick of the forest, it was a strong visual spectacle, graphic in its own way. In that particular setting it was the only thing you could see, there is no other clutter,” she says.
That was in 2014, but the image remained and Tahireh started looking forward to seeing him every now and then. “It became an observation of life in that place, with the study of light in that rural setting. With each experience came parallels, a common thread connecting them – thus becoming the ‘phototrope’,” says the artist who was in Bengaluru. , shuttles between Assam and Guwahati.
Artist Tahireh Lal | photo credit: special arrangement
An alumnus of Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology in Bengaluru, Tahireh believes that as an urban dweller moving to a rural environment, watching the changing seasons make a big impact. “In the city we are aware of the cycles of nature, but watching the flowers bloom or the river rising or the harvest being prepared on such a large scale, it becomes more real, more embedded in one’s experience. Me. Observing the new environment and understanding what each experience is telling is how this work came to be.”
Talking about the ‘color study in UV’ exhibited at Phototrope, Tahireh says that the sculptural work is the installation of electronic parts using lenses, colored gels and ultraviolet light. “It was inspired by the darkening of my husband’s glasses,” laughs Tahireh, adding that the phenomenon saw her take in the photochromatic effect of the lenses. “It is a duration piece – the light comes on, passes through various color filters and hits the lens, so that the audience can see the change in the photochromic lens. The whole performance takes about 20 minutes.”
His moon setting, made from reflective material on paper, moves with the viewer, depending on their line of sight and the angle of light. “There’s a certain animation to the work based on the movement of the viewer,” she says. ‘In the Twinkle of Your Eye’, consisting of 44 panels, a map of the stars visible to the human eye, complete with constellations, is an accurate-to-scale map of the night sky.
Although he is inclined towards science, his works also have an inclination towards art and philosophy. “I am an artist and not a scientist, so I see the world through an imaginative lens that is attuned to the realities of our existence.”
A panel from the setting of ‘In the Twinkle of Your Eye’ by Tahireh Lal | photo credit: special arrangement
With a background in digital video production, Tahireh began his career with video work – his piece ‘Tha’ was featured at the 2008 Videonale in Bonn. His fascination for art and material also continued to grow, and his first solo show, ‘Metaphysical Gravity’, was shown in 2014. he created geometric kolms With the red, black and white sand that swept over the islands of Toronto, where she was pursuing her art residency at the Ontario College of Art and Design.
Talking about her process, Tahireh says that her work shows the synergy between content and ideas. “If he is not, then there is no point in creating. There must be inspiration in the creation of the composition; a certain thoughtfulness and mindfulness in the work you create.”
“The colorful sands and generosity of the islanders fostered ‘spiritual gravity,’ while roadside paranoia and related experiences gave rise to ‘phototropes,'” she says.
The phototrope will be displayed at Chitrakala Parishad, Bangalore till July 10.