Saturday, June 8, 2013

Navin Thomas: An artist always keen to experiment

Working tirelessly and seamlessly over a prolonged period of time with different materials allow a thorough understanding, through the mind as well as the body. Navin Thomas’s processes reveal the intriguing aspects of a creative sojourn. Other than his preoccupation with voice culture, automation, and sleep cycles, the artist is known to keenly explore the mesmerizing sound worlds of different organisms.

Born in 1974 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, the artist has done a diploma in graphic design and holds a diploma in cinematography from Karnataka Film and Technical Training Centre, Bangalore. Among his recent solo exhibitions are 'sound asleep', Gallery SKE, Bangalore and Project88, Mumbai (2006); 'Auto In', and 'In Transit', Gallery SKE, Bangalore (2005, 2004).

His work forms part of group exhibitions like 'RE ASIA - Avatar, Asia's Narrators', Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin, and 'Mechanisms of Motion', Anant Art Gallery, Delhi. Among the workshops and residencies he has attended are the Mattress Factory in 2007 and AFFA, winter artist residency program, Paris (2006).

In one of his earlier projects ‘Immersions - The White Cube Project’ at New Delhi-based Anant Art Gallery, he etched on black glass, and highlighted the pre-eminent role of computer and television screens in our day-to-day lives. In his work, the reflective black void of the sleeping screen held virtual world of possible interactions and resultant experiences.

On the other hand, for one of his recent creations, he made use of found twigs, steel sphere, salvaged electronics, furniture, used sheets, live crickets and mousetraps. His keenness to experiment was again visible in ‘Analytical Engine’, a series curated by Heidi Fichtner at Kolkata’s gallery Bose Pacia The participating artists included Rohini Devasher, Anita Dube, and Kiran Subbaiah among others, engaged into an experimental journey through neo art mediums, conceptually grounding his works based on sound component.

As is evident, Navin Thomas often thrives on the sudden element of surprise in order to arrive at something unexpected and keep the viewers hooked to his work.

No comments:

Post a Comment