A drawing hangs in the middle

Junuka Deshpande

This exposition is based on a project that explored observation of a crossroad through drawings. The drawings are made from the same place on a sidewalk observing the same square over 30 days. During this process, I tried to explore how a continuous observation of a space and the outcome of the process evokes a certain sense of connectedness and reflexive dialogue with the place and its elements- visible and invisible. This artistic research contemplates on the idea of too early too late through the process of drawing where the drawing emerges in the moment, while can be anticipated early and interpreted in hindsight. My exposition considers the act of drawing as an embodied form of recording as opposed to drawing as an image-making (representational) exercise. This process of drawing becomes an engagement with the existing spatial elements, arrangements, their interconnections and importantly, with the self, that is observing. Along with the external engagement and a dialogue with the space, the moment of drawing is both- the outcome of observation and a connection in the moment of making it. This tension between an immediacy in the moment of drawing and the reflectivity in the process of meaning-making of the drawings creates a parallel relationship between an immediate present and the immediate past. The empty space on the surface before drawing, therefore becomes a potential space to record moments from the space around and to remember the moments that are passing by. The work, in the form of drawings of various sizes aspires to present the engagement with the space. The work also gives me an opportunity to find critical moments in the records of time, memory and space. The drawing as an outcome hence, hangs in the middle between the moment of record and moment of being.

I challenged myself to start of a big surface, which is a difficult thing to do in context of live sketching by observation. I was used to carrying a small sketchbook, but this step made my body ready to move, bend, spread and importantly, to look at as much as possible simply because I had the surface staring back at me, demanding attention. After these when I drew on small surfaces, the inhibition of composition and lay out that came with training, slowly faded away, making my actions spontaneous, fast and less judgemental about the outcome. I observed and drew presences and absences as masses of lines on the space on paper.

The large drawings of the same street corner created a contrast in the process of observation where the elements kept changing while I struggled to draw these moments on large surfaces exploring context to object relationship.

These drawings are charcoal drawings, done with charred parts of the wood from the street. They are of fleeting moments of surprise.

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Junuka Deshpande - A drawing hangs in the middle - 2023