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THERE are many issues,dimensions and feelings that young artist Akanksha Khanna cuts,pastes and paints on her canvases. Her exhibition titled All Worlds A Stage is on at the Alliance Francaise,Sector 36,and stems from her reflection that the world is a stage and our life an ongoing series of acts. Her works deal with the mundane and daily life,where Khanna tries to question herself in a quest to evolve as a human being. I empathise with the fact that this so-called real world (material world) is eventually surreal,a performing stage where everyone has an important role to play, adds Khanna,who teaches fine art at a school in the city.
The woman is an issue of discussion in the display her struggles,position and role in a male-dominated society. Through my works,I want to reflect the shallowness that prevails in our society, says Khanna. Drawn on handmade paper,her works use cut-outs,strips from magazines and newspapers,painted motifs and figures,all in bright colours,with text as an integral part.
Exploring the medium deeply and differently,she reflects how life is also a cut-out,where one is always probing the past or the future,where men and women are puppets with strings attached. In one of the works,a woman looks completely perplexed as two ghost-like male figurines dance around. In another,a man looks at a modern woman with wonder. Instability in relationships,the constant urge to look for more this is a comment on the changing dynamics of relationships in todays society, she says. Another work depicts a huge image of Taj Mahal resting on fingertips and hands Khanna attributes it to a debate she had as an art history student. One mans love was the bane of many innocent workers,who lost their hands to the symbol of love. My work questions that, she says. Khanna has also created a few installations in paper,depicting high heel shows,boots and fashionable apparel. People are increasingly judged by appearances,not by what they are actually inside. Friendships too are based on this superficial level, she says of the work.
The exhibition is on till December 5.
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