Divya Works
Uploaded by
urmila banuDivya Works
Uploaded by
urmila banuDIVYA MITTAL
Visual Artist
www.divyamittal.com
[email protected]
Artist Bio - https://www.divyamittal.com/bio
Work Experience - https://www.linkedin.com/in/divya-mittal-/
Site specific collaborative project, 2013, mixed media and sound, 4 interactive installations over 8 weeks
Site, Material & Discourse
We look at the various ways in which art practice has been situated, whether in relation to physical sites, social formations, historical and political
events, or cultural movements and tendencies. We consider the ways in which art as a specific cultural site intersects with other fields of production
and consumption and as well as how ideas and practices are constantly re-worked, recycled, re-contextualised.
Includes - Proposal, documentation, risk assessment, 4 interactive displays
• We collect articles such as fabrics, vinyl records, books, hammock etc, record interviews from charity shops in Archway, London. Do experiments
in various locations to display these articles with different stages of sleep projection. Visitors participate and interact.
• We create an immersive window display experience at a charity shop where visitors can relax in a womb like environment.
• We further interrogate how work is affected by context ie. audience, light, sound, interaction, architecture.
• We re-construct, re-imagine our sound piece and play it for public in Methodist Church, Archway.
Psychoanalysis and Art, 2014, mixed media, video installation
Exhibited at Central Saint Martins, London
Wrote an academic paper on Freud’s interpretation of dreams that further led to work on a collaborative exhibition on Psychoanalysis and Art. Amongst
other things, we keep a dream journal, do meditative drawing in a dark room, record ourselves and exhibit that along with supporting text.
Wayfinding, 2014, bronze sculpture, Archival studies at British Museum with art historian Sarah Jaffray.
Rembrandt’s representation of the (Asian) elephant called 'Hansken’ (Left)
Looking at drawing as sculpture, I was inspired by Rembrandt’s drawing and made bronze sculptures in response. The work was exhibited at
the British Museum, London supported by the Bridget Riley Art Foundation.
Breast Sweeping, 2013, mixed media
Breast ironing is a practice, often performed by a mother, in which the breasts of pubescent girls are pounded using tools
such as spatulas, grinding stones, hot stones and hammers, as a means of delaying their development and protecting girls
from rape and other types of unwanted male attention.
Man in Saree, 2019, oil on canvas, 24 x 18 in. (left)
The portrait is inspired from a young activist who has often encountered being
belittled, mocked, attacked simply for cross dressing. The work comments on
lack of safe public spaces and hereafter attempts to bring attention to alternative
sexualities in so called perfect society.
Performance duration: 2 hours, 2016
Drawings at the British Museum, 2014, watercolours on paper
I document exhibits in 65 galleries of the British Museum, London and photograph over 250 visible genitalia displayed – of which only
38 were female. The gender imbalance highlighted by The Guerrilla Girls (Guerrilla Girls Talk Back, 1989) was blatantly manifest in one
of the most prestigious museums in the world.
First Kiss, 2014, Photograph
I wonder how different it would be had these words been spoken, 2014, watercolors on paper, 15 x 21 cm (series 14 frames)
Through the use of image and text I create a narrative and wonder how different it would be, had these words been spoken.
I am Free, 2016 charcoal on paper, 13 x 6 ft. I am Free, 2021
Exhibited at Ugly Duck Gallery, London Mural commissioned at a public wall in GK, Delhi
Hers is Ours – The Outsider Moving Art & Film Festival
Dancing Girl, 2017, video, duration 3 mins.
Link: https://vimeo.com/249951517/85cfb0722c?share=copy
The work delves into a journey of understanding femininity and the agency it entails. This exploration occurs within the context of both physical and absence
of the body, whilst employing the narrative framework of classical Indian dance, Odissi. The use of jewellery without its tangible presence serves as
commentary on significance and symbolism associated with the 16 adornments 'solah shringar' traditionally worn by married Indian women. These elements
in conjunction with others are woven together, culminating in a rhythmic repetition of taals or beats.
Dancing Her, 2018, video still, video duration 6 mins.
Exhibited at Royal College of Art
Link: https://vimeo.com/273178247/c45051c002?share=copy
The work examines dynamics of a gender normative society through historical, cultural and socio-political contexts. Using classical dance as a tool in storytelling of
lived experiences, it explores how movement can both reflect and challenge these norms. It looks at complexities inherent in navigating personal identity, sexuality
and trauma within the broader discourse of legal frameworks.
THANK YOU
