Letters entice me. Speak to me.

 

Calligraphy, the art of handwriting, finds expressions through my own voice by transcending conventions, veering towards the asemic, exploring imperfect and novel forms in monotone. While legibility often plays a secondary role, the artworks provoke the audience to search for their own interpretations.

 

The texture of ink and the drawn text, space formed by overlapping letterforms, and mingling of various strokes; all transform the artwork into the realm of visuals.

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Akshar means eternal, unbreakable in Sanskrit, and working with alphabets made me realise the power of a letter, and we, as human beings should adapt their frameworks as behavioural practice. I use letterforms as a primary visual element to relate the constitution of letters with humans through the lens of diversity, co-existence, and symbiosis, eventually, it talks about oneness and unity.

  

My fascination with alphabets began as a child when I first started shaping letters, an inheritance from my mother who writes in the most immaculate hand. My schoolteachers were always impressed and that earned me a permanent place in decorating the classroom blackboard. By the time I reached college, this interest turned into a full-blown passion for seeing alphabets as more than words.

 

Devanagri is my muse! I adore its forms and its connection to traditional and spiritual roots. I think this script is unexplored as an art form, I am very close to this script as it’s the script of my mother-tongue (Marathi). From birth, I was exposed to its sound and visuals and this allowed me to develop a very comforting bond with my muse.