Ranjit Ahuja

Residency period: November 2018

At the open studios a selection of previous work has been shown, in dialogue with some of the pictures taken during his residency in Blanca.

We can find three lines of research:

Textures

The photographs of the first section represent an investigation that challenges the borders of our visual perception. By shifting our focus from the shape of the actual objects to the patterns created by the interaction of form, texture, light and shadow, the surface becomes a palette which can hold a spectrum of nuances.

Shadows and shapes

In some other photographs this idea can be discovered in a different approach: the shadow, which usually blends into the environment as it follows the shape of objects, becomes a constructive element creating new forms which dominate the image. In these photographs our sight detects the new structures drawn by the contrast of shades. Therefore the objects shaping the shadows and the physical separation of these objects in space lose their primacy.

Portraying sculpture

In the third set of photographs the artist re-contextualises sculptures in the public space by making portraits of them. These sculptures lose their artistic value as they blend into cityscapes, being reduced to merely decorative elements of our public environment as we pass them by, not even noticing them anymore. By concentrating our attention to the face and focusing on the expressions, the photographs humanize them while highlighting the conflict between the material of the sculpture and the human element of the facial expression.