Shruti Ghatak: Liminal Space
April 2 – May 2, 2026
First Thursday Art Walk - Thursday, April 2, 5-8pm
Reception & Artist Talk - Sunday, April 12, 11 am-1:30pm
Closing Reception - Saturday, May 2nd, 2pm-4pm
An immersive exploration of myth, material, architecture and and lived experience through paintings and terracotta relief sculptures.
Drawing from India’s rich narrative traditions including mythology, regional folklore, and temple relief sculpture, Ghatak merges painting and sculpture to create layered, dreamlike terrains. Her work reflects on women’s empowerment and cultural hybridity, weaving personal and collective histories into visual narratives that feel both timeless and deeply present.
At the center of the exhibition is the 'Dupatta', a South Asian garment traditionally intended to cover the chest of an already dressed woman’s body-often functioning as a marker of modesty shaped by social expectation. In these works, however, the dupatta is reimagined not as a constraint but as a tool of imagination and freedom.
The figures transform the fabric into something expansive and playful. A cape unfurling behind them like that of a superhero, or a parachute-like wing that allows them to glide through the night sky. In these gestures, the cloth becomes a vehicle of transformation. What was once meant to regulate the body becomes a symbol of flight, possibility, and self-authored identity. The dupatta shifts from an object of social discipline into a material of agency, something that moves with the body rather than restricting it.
Artist Statement
My creative practice centers on paintings and terracotta relief sculptures that explore the intersection of mythology, migration, women empowerment and cultural identity. I often draw inspiration from literature, music, poetry, lyrics, conversation and the natural world-both physical and emotional. Forests, rivers, seasonal shifts, birds and animals-all of which find their way into my work as both symbolic and observational elements. Through these motifs, I merge the everyday with the mythic or the mythic with the everyday, creating spaces where personal memory, ancestral traditions, and contemporary life intersect. My work tries to bridge these ancient storytelling traditions with present-day experiences.
I grew up in the Eastern part of India surrounded by temples with terracotta relief sculptures. With no access to galleries, museums, or art books in my childhood, these temple reliefs were my first exposure to art. I began making terracotta relief sculptures as supportive studies for my paintings, but over time, they evolved into independent works with their own identity and voice.
Paintings and relief sculptures both are a big part of my practice, symbolizing memory, history, and transformation. Rooted in Indian traditions of storytelling through temple and ritual sculpture, I try to investigate the material and symbolic weight of storytelling as a means of connecting generations and geographies.