Multi-Stories

Up the narrow,dimly lit stairs of Latitude 28 gallery,Ahmedabad-based artist Sarika Mehta’s installation of airconditioning pipes covered in green moss seem part of the landscape. Her debut show titled “Born From the Terrain” appropriates nature themes for her work. “Moss for me is something natural,which one cannot grow. It is wild yet beautiful. It’s similar to our emotions that we cannot contain or suppress. We should just let it flow,” says Mehta of her installation called Flow. She used threads of wet towels to depict the moss along the walls of the staircase.

A painting of a heap of stones lie suspended over an expanse of the sea captivates the viewer with its stillness. Talking about her work that resonates with feelings of peace,harmony and silence,Mehta says,“Today’s generation is accosted by noise,crowds and jams. Each morning,when we wake up,our thoughts are overcome with tension,panic and a leaden feeling of claustrophobia. Through these paintings,I wish silence fills the air,something we miss in our hectic lives.”

Her choice of colours — grey,white and black — in most of her paintings comes from her printmaking background. “I was a printmaker before I started painting,” says the 33-year-old artist.

The Fire Within

Baroda-based artist Alok Bal‘s solo exhibition “Ember”,which is on display at the ground floor of Latitude 28 gallery,tells tales of urbanisation and its effects on people. Bal spent his childhood in Orissa surrounded by hills and dense forests. But paints landscapes that show present day realities. “I paint surroundings that I can see. People live with a lot of anger within them,” he says. His canvases have little sparks of fire to depict the fire within.

The exhibitions are on till May 20 at the gallery. Contact: 46791111