Shivani Aggarwal in her studio
Photo by Sandeep Biswas
Damaris Athene: Could you start off by telling me a bit about yourself?
Shivani Aggarwal: I was brought up and I've been living in Delhi, I did my bachelor's at College of Art, Delhi. In 2003 I got a scholarship to study in London at Wimbledon School of Art. After returning to Delhi ,I began practicing. It was a little tough in the beginning, because I was still trying to find my language and I was trying to figure out a way to keep a balance between my work, my finances and everything. Slowly, things began to change, after the birth of my daughter, I think my work became more intense. I began looking for opportunities as an artist as my work progressed. I got an opportunity to exhibit in Pakistan in 2006. Pakistan being a neighbouring country, I was called to do an exhibition by Salima Hashmi at her gallery Rohtas II. She's a well known artist, activist and was a former professor. I had another solo exhibition in Bombay in 2007. After that I associated myself with Studio Art Gallery in New Delhi in 2008 and since then, I've been working, showing and getting regular opportunities from them.
DA: Nice. So do they represent you?
SA: Yes, so over time our relationship grew, and the gallery decided to represent me.
DA: That's brilliant. That’s the goal for so many artists to have a gallery behind them.
SA: It was never easy. For artists it's a struggle on many levels, you know, you're struggling with your work, you're struggling with your finances, trying to get the money to create art, and then to showcase your art in the right way with the right people who understand your intent. It has always been a struggle to be represented in the right way and to be doing what you want to do, to be growing with your language.
DA: It's not an easy path to take at all. What made you want to come to London for your MA?
SA: It's just that I applied for an all paid scholarship and was successful. It was always in my mind that I needed to pursue my studies. My stay there changed my work immensely, tremendously. Because I got a third person's perspective to my art, you know, coming out of my country, looking at myself, my work, what I had been doing, everything came in question. It was very interesting and helped me focus on my language a lot better.
Stitched Skin, 2019, Photography and crocheted thread on paper
Variable set of 12 images, takes 4 x 6 ft. of wall space
Photo courtesy of Studio Art New Delhi and the artist
DA: That's so interesting. Did you find that there was a difference in the way that art was taught when you were in India and when you were in England?
SA: Yes, of course. In England there was a lot more questioning, which was very interesting, because you end up questioning yourself, questioning your intent and thereby finding answers. Then these answers lead you to more questions! So this whole idea of questioning came into me, why I'm doing something. Why am I photographing something and not painting it? Even today, I sometimes refer back to a few things I did there, just to understand why I did them and what I thought then.
DA: That sounds like a really valuable process, to be able to dig deep into what you're doing and figure out your motivations for things. Could you say a bit more about your practice?
SA: I was always fascinated by things that I saw around my house, around myself. I began photographing them, I was photographing them way back in England as well. Things that were inside my room inside the house I was living in. I would photograph them and try to develop a language around them. To my surprise, I could form little stories about them or about myself through them. Now, I'm seeing a lot more through these objects today because now I am not just photographing them, I'm painting them, sculpting them, I'm bending, twisting them. They have developed in the past 10/12 years, they have grown in size, grown in understanding, and grown in terms of my questioning something. Every material lends itself to the whole meaning of the work today. When I photograph a hammer or if I sculpt a hammer there is a difference. Many things change with material and I enjoy that a lot. Now I enjoy this usage of material and how one thing can be interpreted and changed and manoeuvred in terms of meaning. It has been a struggle because I am trained as a painter, so I wasn't used to working with material. But over time, I have learned from my friends, from people who helped me with my sculptures. It's been a very interesting process.
DA: And what what draws you to making work with these everyday objects?
SA: I have always been fascinated by them and because I've observed them for so long, things are lying around me. I keep looking at them. They are symbols of memory, time and function. Sometimes I am fascinated by their form, so I start drawing them, photographing them or I start thinking of a sculpture with the form. Lately I've begun sewing their forms on rice paper.
Thread Reel, 2015, Fibreglass and thread
7.5 x 3 ft.
Photo courtesy of Studio Art New Delhi and the artist
DA: Like drawing with thread?
SA: Yes, that has been my thing for the last year. Because of the pandemic I was restricted in what material I could buy. I was trying to make art with whatever I had with me at home.
DA: Nice. And in your statement you mention exploring gender and the human condition. Could you speak a bit more about that?
SA: Being a woman, being an artist has never been easy, especially in a country like India, where we basically come from a conservative mindset and conservative ideas. I grew up among women, with my grandmother, my mother, my aunt. I was very close to their lives and I used to see them suffering as women, physically and sometimes emotionally. I think I was expected to live the same kind of life. I felt this pressure many times. They don't say ‘We want you to do this’, but it is expected of you. This expectation led me to question why I should follow the same path. This whole circle of life of following a certain social rule, and then suffering due to it. I see it a lot here in India. We have changed over time over the past, say 20/30 years, things are not how they were. This all led me to understand what condition are we humans living in? Why do we bind ourselves into these rules, into these structures, into this social conditioning? Why aren't we breaking out of them? Are they really required? Are they really needed? So this entire thing led me to actually question a lot.
DA: Do you feel that now you’ve broken out of those social norms? And if so, how have your family reacted to that?
SA: So strangely, I have not broken out of any social norms, I’m married and I have a child and all that, yet I live a very independent life. I have discovered my independence and I think everybody has accepted it.
DA: Was there a point when they tried to discourage you from being an artist?
SA: I would not say they discouraged me but they were unhappy and they thought that I should be doing something maybe more safe, like being a teacher. So I was never directly told, but I was expected to understand.
DA: That sounds like it was really difficult to carve your own path within that.
SA: Yes, it was. I think you have to be just intelligent to be able to manoeuvre yourself.
DA: And strong willed.
SA: Absolutely.
New Objects, 2019, Acrylic on paper
9 x 12 inches each, set of 15 boxes
Photo courtesy of Studio Art New Delhi and the artist
DA: And going back to your practice, you spoke about working with different mediums. Could expand on your motivation to work with different things and how that's changed over the years of your practice?
SA: I started off being fascinated by threads. I used to see threads everywhere. In India When people are getting married they would be tying a thread and we also have a festival here called Rakhi, where the sister ties a thread to the brothers wrist. It symbolises a sacred bond that they share. I used to see threads playing a big role in our culture. I began collaging them on different surfaces and, to my surprise, they would start to look very interesting. I would start to make stories. And so from assemblages, I began doing very intimate small paintings, but I felt that it wasn’t enough, I needed more, I needed to say more. So I began to work with fibreglass. My earliest work is the knitting needles. I made them with the help of a friend who is a sculptor. The knitting needles have knitting hanging on them, which I made with the help of my mother because I didn't have good knitting skills then.
DA: Was it knitted with the sculptural knitting needles?
SA: No, they’re huge! Six feet long! We knitted with pointed wooden logs. After that installation I began experimenting with other objects. I wanted to make a hammer which was bent and made of wood. I got the help from a wood carver. So my mediums changed due to what I wanted to do and the thought behind it. The work selected the medium, not the other way around.
DA: That's really interesting. You've spoken a bit about the significance of thread in Indian culture, but is there anything else you'd like to add to that about the significance of thread in your practice?
SA: Yeah. I always used to make these entangled threads and ideas around these threads binding or threads opening up or something like that. I wanted to talk about relationships, how it affected me, and how things sometimes don't work or sometimes work. Threads are very interesting because they can signify a bond and, at the same time, they can signify bondage. In the early 2000s, I was creating small 10 by 10 inch paintings and over the years I thought that they needed to find a bigger space. I began enlarging my objects. My sculptures are generally very, very big, around 7-8 feet, I think I can go even bigger.
How do I knit?, 2013, Fibreglass and thread
Knitting needles: 6 ft. Knitting: 3.5 x 4 ft. approx. Space taken: 5 x 8 ft. approx.
Photo courtesy of Studio Art New Delhi and the artist
DA: That would be amazing! You mentioned that you’ve started using thread again during the pandemic, has the way that you work changed in any other ways? Would you normally be going to the studio?
SA: Yes, I have not gone to my studio as much as I would have liked in the past few months. I was restricted to being at home, I was just crocheting. I got this opportunity to be part of this exhibition where I had to produce works solely out of craft. So I decided to crochet wire and I created a very large piece, which is almost 20 feet now. So it took me around six months of working diligently and tirelessly at home. And that's why I think I now need a pair of glasses.
DA: Wow, that must have been very hard to be able to see what you're making if it's that big. How would you ever get an idea of the whole?
SA: I did it in pieces and then joined them all together. I asked a friend who has a gallery space if I could go and put it up and see what it looks like because you're right, I couldn't see it properly. This work is called the trap because I think we humans keep knitting traps that we get stuck in.
DA: Wow! Amazing! Is it going to be suspended when it's exhibited?
SA: Yes, it will be suspended, hung from the ceiling.
DA: I’m excited to see it! When people are able to see your work in person again, what would you like them to get from it?
SA: Well, I would like them to understand what I've done, to notice the delicate intricacy and the sensitivity that I engage with, and to understand what I mean through my work. So I basically want them to understand the language that I use. It's very interesting when people read more than what I intended to say. In another work I made distorted hangers and one of my friends said that these hangers are distorted because of some pressure. So where is the pressure? You haven't made the pressure, so the pressure is invisible, yet it is there. I did think of pressures and how they distort us, but I was not aware of it while I was making it. I like that open ended bit where people are discovering and reading between the lines.
Detail of ‘Hangers’, 2020, Wood
19 x 19 inches each, set of 5
Photo courtesy of Studio Art New Delhi and the artist
DA: Yeah, definitely. And whose work inspires you?
SA: A lot of people I love so many artists. When I was in London in 2019, I happened to see Olafur Eliasson and Mona Hatoum's work. I was totally taken aback, especially by Olafur Eliasson. His works are so amazing and so sensitive. I really loved his work and I loved Mona Hatoum's work as well. I also like Louise Bourgeois a lot and Shirin Neshat and Anish Kapoor. Shirin Neshat is an Iranian artist who makes extremely interesting work. The work comes from war.
DA: I see that link with the work of Mona Hatoum. Her work contains undercurrents of violence. And what projects have you been working on recently?
SA: Being at home last year, I was actually with my needle and thread. I realised I can do a lot of things with it. I've begun doing works on canvas with a needle and thread. I'm really enjoying this, this newfound interest because I think I had forgotten about it. Without the pandemic I wouldn't have been working with needle and thread and crocheting.
DA: What's the exhibition that the crochet pieces are going into?
SA: It’s part of the Indian Ocean Triennial, that is happening in Perth, Australia. It's a parallel event with them. There will be many Australian artists and me. I was offered a residency there for a month, but I don't think I'll be able to go because of their strict restrictions.
DA: That's such a shame. What other plans do you have for future work. More stuff with thread and stitching?
SA: Yes, maybe with stitching, and I am intending to create some more sculptures. Now that the lockdown is lifted, if I'm able to create something with wood, I would like to do that. With the stitching and the crochet, I want to continue with this and and see where it goes. Maybe create a sculptural work with them.
DA: I look forward to seeing what you make! Thank you so much. Shivani. It was so lovely to meet you.
SA: Thank you so much. It was lovely speaking to you as well.
