Sudarshan Shetty’s art practice

Sudarshan Shetty’s intriguing body of work often hinges on a creative mix of intense observation and wit. Grasping the latent meaning or meaninglessness of it seeks power of observation on the viewer’s part.

An incongruous association of objects that might bear different meanings is intended on his part to form new meaning and in the process, create an abstract space for exploring the dark underbelly of the human-object relationship, the duality of free will as well as the inertness of things. He takes apart ubiquitous objects without dismantling them, and decodes them, by revealing their inherent mechanical being.

Looking to experiment with found objects in a wide array of media, he may combine the diverse forms in curious object-assemblages. The intent is to create an emotionally charged experience for the viewer. About his usage of objects that tend to garner a life of their own – simultaneously, being alive and futile, he quips: “I look for the lost body inside.”

Sudarshan Shetty’s mechanical installations, which revolve around the near-precise play of his sculptures, too, carry no value, he emphasizes. According to him, they simply are spectacles in themselves and collapse under the very spectacles once displayed. They stand for the meaninglessness of the ironic situation and he is constantly grappling this contradiction through his works.

Seeking inspiration from VW Beetle childhood toy cars, his most recent installation at the Vancouver Biennale, alludes to multitudinous references: iconic combustion engine vehicles entombed and dated as artifacts. The piece draws our attention to the environment degradation owing to the combustion engine by putting each vehicle into a coffin-like box, on view as a museum relic or artifact.

Summing up his thought process as an artist, he reveals: “I’ve always been fascinated by how things stand, the structural aspect and, in the process, challenge the notion of seriousness of the material.” He is interested in the idea of absence - a human absence - of being elsewhere. “I think most of us are condemned to be elsewhere. I try to define this space with familiar objects, to create a dialogue between them, which may reveal some truths about my own life to me. I find this to be the best way for having a true communication possible with the world at large,” he concludes.