Raksha Patel Paintings and Drawings 2014
Raksha Patel Paintings and Drawings 2014
To enquire about the artist work or make an appointment to visit her studio in London contact us on: +44 (0) 203 281 1045 info@theindianartcentre.com
Lucie Marchelot Director, The Indian Art Centre
“being at the studio gives me space to clear my mind, focusing on the creative thought process and little else� Raksha Patel
Raksha Patel An artist to watch
Raksha Patel was born and raised in Leicester; she initially studied Graphics and Illustration in Leicester and at Norwich School of Art (1994) before completing a Masters in Fine Art painting at the Slade School of Art (1998). Upon graduating Raksha was awarded a studio for one year that helped to kick start her career. Since then she has worked as a practising artist making paintings, drawings and films; and as an artist-educator with leading galleries and museums. She has worked on numerous participatory projects with galleries some of which have had a commission element. This has involved creating art-works through collaboration. One such project was Creative Connections with the Whitechapel Gallery, where Raksha made a video installation with drama students. Over the years Raksha’s project work has melded with her studio practice and both have drawn ideas and inspiration from each other. In addition her artistic practice she lectures regularly at the Tate Galleries in London. Raksha’s recent work explores ideas of time, decay and disintegration, and through this she explores the human body and its relationship to landscape. She uses paint as her main medium, although some works use materials from the body such as hair or blood. Her other works use aged paper and magazines, old postcards and expired film stock. Her work has been exhibited internationally and below is a list of selected exhibitions. Forget-Me-Knot, Pitzhanger Manor Gallery (2013), We were Trying to Make Sense, 1 Shantiroad, Bangalore (2013) Collision, Nancy Victor Gallery, (2013) Jerwood Drawing Prize, Jerwood Gallery and touring, (2011) Paint, Beldham Gallery, Brunel University London (2010), Postcards from Dystopia, Nolias Gallery London (2009), The Mausoleum of Lost Objects, inIVA - Rivington Space, London (2008), The Redemptive Beauty of Life After Death, The Bonnington Gallery Nottingham (2007), Visions in the Nunnery, The Nunnery Gallery London (2006), Creative Connections, The Whitechapel Gallery London (2005), Closing the Door? The Jewish Museum. London (2005), Stellatus, Projection Space, Site Gallery Sheffield (2004), Art-Tube-01, Platform For Art, The London Underground (2001), Self Assembly, Rugby Museum & Art Gallery + touring (2001), Labour Intensive, The City Gallery, Leicester (2000), Slow Spin, The Century Gallery London (2000). Residencies/Projects include Spacemakers at Kettles Yard (2011) Garden and Cosmos at the British Museum and Millbank School (2009), Creative Connections at the Whitechapel Gallery (2005). Awards and Commissions include Guangzhou Triennial, Pool of Possibilities (2008), The Apthorp Young Artist Award (2003), ACAVA - First Base Studio Award (1998) Publications include Peter Suchin, The Redemptive Beauty of Life After Death, exh cat. pages 4853, She lives and works in London.
Raksha Patel Paintings and Drawings
Raksha Patel’s artistic practice explores ideas of time through looking at nature. She makes paintings, drawings and films, and her current work investigates the human presence within nature asking us to investigate our relationship with it. The notion of decay is easier to see in nature than it is ourselves, which Patel investigates in her work after being inspired by ancient Indian meditation practices; Patel’s works explores the human body - through the microscopic eye – looking down at it to the pores of the skin. In her detailed depictions, the quality of impermanence is affirmed, whether through examining the texture of blood or the veins in a dying leaf. Transience is indeed the thread that binds these works. They take us into the still world of Memento Mori, yet with movement and flux. The drawing of Lady Forget me Knot a portrait of a woman appears seemingly attractive in the first instance, however this illusion is quickly dispelled we notice that she is made of rotting wood. Its knotted yet smiling face, created of dead matter, conjures up horror rather than charm. The elements in these works shift between the real and the unreal, and have been imprinted on Patel’s memory through the exposure of Hindu imagery during her early years. Pictures of Gods and Goddesses, that are part human, part animal, exist in spaces that are void of any particular locale. These landscapes, often painted with a heightened sense of colour, and with an altered sense of perspective contain generic elements such as a river, a tree and a sunset and are painted with the desire to appear realistic. These images led Patel into the dark and dreamlike spaces that existing in the corners of her mind, feeding the imagination; for example an early painting depicts a Mad Hatters tea party where everything appears to be innocent, yet the happy animals at the table have their plates filled with human body parts. In the painting of the towering fountain, it is made of blood rather than that of spring water. It circulates through a series of ovals filled with psychedelic patterns, swirling around in a fashion imitating blood within the human body, whilst drawing upon ideas of continual life and birth found in Eastern spirituality. Other recent works uses materials from the past, things found in antique shops, which are re-appropriated, bringing into it to the present; for example aged paper is used for the drawings that are displayed in Victorian picture frames – all of which touches upon the passing of time.
“exploring, walking, taking photographs and finding discarded objects, are level of inspiration for my work� Raksha Patel
Untitled Blood on paper 2012 10 x 15 cm ÂŁ900.00 (the pair)
Forever Yours Pencil on paper 2011 10 x 15 cm ÂŁ900.00 (the pair)
Untitled Acrylic on canvas 2014 40 x 30 cm ÂŁ3,500
Edge of the World Acrylic on canvas 2007
ÂŁ4,000
Both Sides of the Equator Acrylic on canvas 2003 185 x 122 cm ÂŁ8,000
Damp Patch Acrylic on canvas 2000 107 x 189 cm £6,000
Lady Forget Me Knot Pencil on paper 2011 10.5 x 15 cm ÂŁ800.00
Sun Valley Acrylic on canvas 2006 92 x 67 cm ÂŁ4,500
Into Itself it Fell Acrylic on canvas 122 x 122 cm 2004 ÂŁ6,000
Untitled Acrylic on canvas 2007 213 x 123 cm ÂŁ12,000
Worm Wood (Wallpaper) Acrylic on paper 2013 335 x 275 cm ÂŁ12,000 Digital Images available for reproduction POA
Untitled Acrylic on canvas 2014 40 x 30 cm ÂŁ3,500
Untitled Acrylic on canvas 2014 40 x 30 cm ÂŁ3,500
Surya Acrylic on linen 2012 48 x 48cm ÂŁ6000
Vishnu’s Head Acrylic on canvas 2011 90 x 76cm £7000
Fanny Pencil on paper 2013 35 x 45 cm ÂŁ900
Untitled Paper and card 2012 20 x 20 cm ÂŁ700
Raksha Patel Paintings and Drawings 2014
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