Spaces are interesting. A concrete building could be nothing or everything depending on who decides to live there and what they do there. I’m sure all of us are seeing how much our lives are influenced by physical spaces especially when we are confined to four walls in the prevailing situation. To further explore the meaning of what spaces can become, as well as to let you visit a new place albeit virtually, I decided to take you through a tour of the ground zero for my art – my studio.
My studio is a 2 BHK apartment located in a quaint corner of the residential society that I live in. I work from all over the apartment depending on the process and the two bedrooms function as separate areas that are integral to the process of working with resin. The entire apartment is done up in a way that is a reflection of all that I love. There are random things collected from my travels, a photo-wall of loved ones, some indoor plants, and lots of bells (love them!). The place sounds serene thanks to the constant chirping of birds outside.
When I go to my studio, I listen to podcasts, watch documentaries, journal my thoughts and sometimes just reflect on my thoughts when I’m not creating art. I feel completely free when I am at my studio and it feels as if time has slowed down. It is a space where the subtleties of my own energy get amplified and I can be exactly who I am. It is bustling with energy when I want to and when I want to be still, the place becomes still. I wouldn’t call this place home, it is so much more volatile when compared to the stable cocoon that a home is. But, this place calms me down and kindles my mind and heart.
Sometimes, I just sit and stare at my own work, accepting a state of nothingness in my mind. Journeys of self-discovery start off. I question what art is, who I am, what the world means to me. And, the most beautiful thing is that since I create art in this place where I have infinite freedom, the art that I create comes from a deeply honest place within me.
I have often wondered if this magical setting of my studio is a physical one or a mental one. Maybe both of these go hand-in-hand. I have tried to experience the freedom of my studio at home and other places but I haven’t been able to. As an artist and as a person, the opportunity to let myself completely free is so precious and is closely associated with my studio space. The physical space probably provides the perfect base for the mind to build its own safe space within. And, when a place is associated with you, maybe it becomes more and more of that as time goes by.
It is very important to have such spaces, isn’t it? Do you have a space that is completely ‘you’? What helps you build and protect such spaces? And, when you are completely true to yourself in such spaces, isn’t there a beautiful sense of catharsis?
I hope you enjoyed the little peek into my studio and related to my thoughts about it. Stay safe and well and I will meet you again in a few weeks ☺
Thoughts of the Artist ~ written by Shravya Indukuri