IMAGINED SPACES

Only a discerning eye can capture artistic forms in deconstructed structures. And this is what Yamini Nayar excels at. The New York-based photographer is known for personalising constructed spaces that feature dilapidated structures, and studio-based sculptures and installations, which she then photographs. Drawing acclaim for her work, she has had various exhibitions in Switzerland, UK, and New York, and her photographs feature in private and public collections, including those of the Saatchi Collection and Queens Museum of Art, New York. This month, Nayar is homeward bound as she opens her first solo exhibition in India.

At Project Space in Mumbai, Nayar’s latest collection of imagery is in collaboration with gallerist Amrita Jhaveri. Describing her works as “the intersection of photography, space, and memory”, she claims that her love for solid structures could have easily taken her towards the furnituremaking industry. It was, however, a collection of images of a court building in Chandigarh in 1958, that she saw in LIFE magazine, that firmly put her on the path to weaving photographs into her imagined spaces. Starting out as a retoucher of architectural floorplans, she got to understand how the living space is organised, which she then captured through the lens, over the years.

Counting Gaganendranath Tagore and Walter Benjamin as her influences, Nayar is currently associated with the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, and is a Visiting Artist Scholar at New York University. Talking about her plans to immerse herself in the Indian art space, she plans to “spend time travelling and visiting art schools in the country”. Visit Yamini Nayar’s solo exhibition at Project Space, Mumbai, March 24 onwards