‘Just Between Us’ @ Rhodes Contemporary
Anoushka Mirchandani presents a new series of figurative paintings in Just Between Us, composed exclusively with oil paint and pastel on canvas. During the process of painting this series, Mirchandani invited her sitters in to the intimacy of her inner sanctum following a period of profound global disconnect and adversity. Engaging in deep self-reflection, Mirchandani considers concepts such as closeness with the self, with others and with our surrounding environments.
Anoushka Mirchandani, Golden Hour. Source: Rhodes Contemporary.
Mirchandani’s figurative works are composed of more abstracted shapes and lines: the contours of bodies. Having grown up in India and moving to the United States during her adulthood, such compositions reflect the artist’s inner dialogue on navigating a patchwork identity. Delighting in the beauty of female forms, Mirchandani asserts herself as a female visual artist in a traditionally male-dominated industry. Indeed, the physical context within which she works and the cultural context at the time of painting have a profound influence on how Mirchandani works as she transmutes her understandings of such impacts onto her canvases.
Mirchandani’s figures appear content in their aloneness, drawing us in to their private and unguarded moments. In Golden Hour, the sitter lounges peacefully, face turned towards the warmth of the sun, unaware of or, perhaps, unaffected by, the viewer’s gaze.
Anoushka Mirchandani, Bloom. Source: Rhodes Contemporary.
Negative space within the works allows the viewers to focus on the details. Simultaneously, they reveal the scenes to be anonymous enough so that one can place themselves within the scene. Mirchandani’s figures are modelled off friends and loved ones, as well as herself, revealing self-reflection, personal growth, moments of respite, and coming face to face with her own history, nature and being. Overall, these are intimate works, imbued with a warming colour palette of ochre, terracotta and rich reds.
Anoushka Mirchandani, Homecoming. Source: Rhodes Contemporary.
Anoushka Mirchandani, Forbidden Fruit. Source: Rhodes Contemporary.
Mirchandani’s debut solo show exudes a sense of peace and calm. The paintings suggest that home is not a place but a feeling, an embrace shared between loved ones, or held within a moment of contentment. Just Between Us is an ode to the sanctuary spaces, the dwellings, both physical and intangible, that we find comfort and safety within.
Just Between Us is on view at Rhodes Contemporary until October 16th 2021.
All images courtesy of Rhodes Contemporary and the artist.
Olivia Wilson
Reviews Editor, MADE IN BED