I was born and brought up in a farmer's family with the practice of farming being the basis of our livelihood. My current art works are also inspired by the same environment with each day on the fields emerging like a new day, and where I continuously learn and observe something fresh.. I gather these experiences and insights to continuously build and enhance my artistic practice. I was raised in a small village on the outskirts of the Mumbai city and attended the city for my higher studies at The Sir J.J. School of Art, and this required me to relocate to the city. Life in the city compared to my home was very different and because of my background I perceived the variations in a very unique way. Often on my way to college, I would observe and dwell on the similarities and differences in urban and rural life. People commuting in the city follow an unspoken set of rules, for example, a crowd of people walking on the left path, reminded me of a herd of sheep that I would take out for grazing back home. Just as I had migrated from my home to the city, there were many others who had made the same shift, just like birds and animals who had migrated to fulfill their needs. What is it that makes animal migration such a magnificent spectacle for the eye and the mind? Is it the sheer abundance of wildlife in motion? Or the significant challenges to be overcome? Is it the amazing feats of precise navigation? The answer is all of the above. But there is another quality noted, that is the complete focus and “indistractibility ” of migrating animals. Animal migration is a phenomenon far grander and more patterned than animal movement. It represents travelling en masse, with long-deferred time to endure before rewards are achieved. There are five identified characteristics that apply, in varying degrees and combinations, to all migrations. The sustained and prolonged movements that carry animals outside familiar habitats; the path tends to be linear, not zigzaggy; they involve special behaviors of preparation (such as overfeeding) and arrival; they demand special allocations and reserves of energy. And one more: Migrating animals maintain a fervid attentiveness to the greater mission, which keeps them undeterred by temptations and emerging challenges that would normally distract animals aside through instinctual desires. My art practise and inspiration draws from these principles of nature at work and I strive to express through metaphorical interpretations how people migrate from their country homes to the city in order to study, work and fulfil their human needs.

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Represented by Art Cenrix Space Gallery