Detroit Institute of Arts commissions work from Detroit artist Neha Vedpathak to include in new Robert and Katherine Jacobs Asian Wing set to open November 4
Updated Jul 24, 2018
July 24, 2018 [updated Oct. 30, 2018] (Detroit)—The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) has commissioned a large-scale paper work from artist Neha Vedpathak to include in its new Robert and Katherine Jacobs Asian Wing, set to open Nov. 4. Joining the recently opened Japanese gallery will be galleries of Chinese, Korean, Indian and Southeast Asian and Buddhist art. Vedpathak’s work will be installed in the Indian and Southeast Asian gallery and is part of the DIA’s initiative to incorporate modern and contemporary art into each of the new Asian galleries.
Vedpathak was born in India and has worked in the United States since 2007. She came to Detroit in 2016 and her art is intimately connected to the city she now calls home. The commissioned piece is titled “Still I Rise” and explores the idea of resilience as a common ground between India and Detroit. The title is inspired by Maya Angelou’s poem of the same name, which also carries the theme of resilience.
“In the DIA’s new gallery of Indian and Southeast Asian art, Neha’s work will be visually engaging and thought-provoking,” said Katherine Kasdorf, DIA assistant curator of Arts of Asia & the Islamic World. “It will draw an immediate connection between India and Detroit, both through its thematic focus and through the artist herself, who is rooted to both places.”
“Still I Rise” exemplifies a technique Vedpathak invented, which she describes as “plucking.” Starting with handmade Japanese paper, she uses a pushpin to pluck its fibers apart, creating a lacy texture. It is a slow, long, repetitive, and careful process. Vedpathak considers the labor that goes into making art as a form of meditation.
To create the large-scale work—83.5 × 88 in.—Vedpathak sewed multiple sheets of plucked paper together, then applied paint. The colors are a rich range of reds and yellows that evoke sunrise and sunset, recalling the cycles of time and renewal. The colors also relate to pigments used in many Indian ceremonies, such as yellow turmeric and red kumkum (a mixture of turmeric and lime).
Vedpathak is a multidisciplinary artist renowned for her inventive and original process-based practice and deep connection to her materials. She has had featured exhibitions in the Czech Republic, India, Canada, France, Greece and the United States. Vedpathak has been an invited resident artist at Skopelos Foundation for the Arts (Greece), Bharat Bhavan Graphic Studio (India), Anderson Ranch Art Center (Colorado), and CAMAC (France) and Fountainhead Residency (Florida). She currently lives and maintains a studio in Detroit.
A high-res image of the work is available in the media kit at https://www.dia.org/asiangalleriesmediakit
July 24, 2018 [updated Oct. 30, 2018] (Detroit)—The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) has commissioned a large-scale paper work from artist Neha Vedpathak to include in its new Robert and Katherine Jacobs Asian Wing, set to open Nov. 4. Joining the recently opened Japanese gallery will be galleries of Chinese, Korean, Indian and Southeast Asian and Buddhist art. Vedpathak’s work will be installed in the Indian and Southeast Asian gallery and is part of the DIA’s initiative to incorporate modern and contemporary art into each of the new Asian galleries.
Vedpathak was born in India and has worked in the United States since 2007. She came to Detroit in 2016 and her art is intimately connected to the city she now calls home. The commissioned piece is titled “Still I Rise” and explores the idea of resilience as a common ground between India and Detroit. The title is inspired by Maya Angelou’s poem of the same name, which also carries the theme of resilience.
“In the DIA’s new gallery of Indian and Southeast Asian art, Neha’s work will be visually engaging and thought-provoking,” said Katherine Kasdorf, DIA assistant curator of Arts of Asia & the Islamic World. “It will draw an immediate connection between India and Detroit, both through its thematic focus and through the artist herself, who is rooted to both places.”
“Still I Rise” exemplifies a technique Vedpathak invented, which she describes as “plucking.” Starting with handmade Japanese paper, she uses a pushpin to pluck its fibers apart, creating a lacy texture. It is a slow, long, repetitive, and careful process. Vedpathak considers the labor that goes into making art as a form of meditation.
To create the large-scale work—83.5 × 88 in.—Vedpathak sewed multiple sheets of plucked paper together, then applied paint. The colors are a rich range of reds and yellows that evoke sunrise and sunset, recalling the cycles of time and renewal. The colors also relate to pigments used in many Indian ceremonies, such as yellow turmeric and red kumkum (a mixture of turmeric and lime).
Vedpathak is a multidisciplinary artist renowned for her inventive and original process-based practice and deep connection to her materials. She has had featured exhibitions in the Czech Republic, India, Canada, France, Greece and the United States. Vedpathak has been an invited resident artist at Skopelos Foundation for the Arts (Greece), Bharat Bhavan Graphic Studio (India), Anderson Ranch Art Center (Colorado), and CAMAC (France) and Fountainhead Residency (Florida). She currently lives and maintains a studio in Detroit.
A high-res image of the work is available in the media kit at https://www.dia.org/asiangalleriesmediakit