Asavari Gurav is an emerging artist, born in Goa in 1996, and has completed her studies in Fine Arts from M.S. University of Baroda. She draws her inspiration from her immediate surroundings, memories, significant events, literature, Goan Jazz, folktales, theatre, and most profusely from her poetry and imagination. Profusely, she delves into the world of real and imagination through her works.
Asavari Gurav and Abir Pothi in Dialogue: Tuesday Talks Series
What drew you to visual art? Was there a moment or an influence?
Actually, I always loved the arts. I always loved expressing myself, drawing competitions and all helped. But I suppose one day I drew a gigantic joker on the wall of my room with crayons and my mother realized that she is passionate and she’s serious about this. The Joker was very scary. So I was really afraid whether I would be kicked out of the house or what would happen. But no, she really encouraged me. And, she took it seriously and I started entering a lot of workshops, going to galleries and actually the gallery became a sacred space. I got interested in the arts. I didn’t know there was such a thing called fine arts. So it was very scary that I did not know that fine arts existed and this whole world existed. But when I came to know there was no turning back.
What are you creating right now? Any piece that’s consuming your thoughts lately?
Oh, right now I’m actually exploring driftwood pieces. Sometimes during the rainy season. There’s a lot of it. So, I have one piece which I had liked for a while, and I’m thinking of how I can create something with it. I can also carve and take it back without treating it. So I’m looking at possibilities, and right now I am painting. I am also a poet. So I have been writing poetry simultaneously, and my work has all the poetic elements. So, at the moment I’m actually compiling them, putting them together, and hopefully there’ll be a book.
You did your bachelor’s in painting and then master’s in printmaking. So how was that transition? How was that shift for you?
It was not much of a shift, actually. I always love printmaking. In fact, I did it even before I joined the art college. I got the opportunity to do it. Yes. There was a bit of realization that trial and errors would be a part of the process, and then that would shift your work. But I did have a few concerns regarding a story or some form of, you know, fantasy kind of world which is coming together. So I think that it was kind of pushed, it kind of came together, actually. And my printmaking practice is very painterly, so I kind of play around with textures and surfaces and, sometimes paintings and prints come together. So it’s not a very typical practice perhaps, I’m only thinking about the image. And image is important, whether it’s painting or printmaking. Printmaking does give you a quality, a certain kind of, assertiveness, a certain kind of reputation, which I enjoyed. It’s like poetry for me.
So how do you connect with different mediums, like is there a particular medium that you find very difficult to deal with, and is there a particular medium you know, it’s just very easy for you to work with it.
It’s mostly drawing, it’s my sketchbook, my words. They are also images for me also gouache, the sort of butteriness to it. I feel like everything has its own ease and sometimes like sculptural works, they kind of push me out of my comfort zone. I like it, I’m more of a seasonal artist. So in Goa, oil painting is a little difficult due to the moisture and humidity. And there’s a lot of fungus. It’s whatever speaks to you at the moment. So right now I can always return to painting for sure. It’s a very philosophical act for me. I observe, I see and I just draw, I write whatever words just come out. It’s all intertwined for me.
Apart from your writing, what inspires you in your visual journey?
Apart from my writing, observations and what I see around, apart from that, I think watching news, it is bizarre and it’s like everything is this comedy, there is tragedy everywhere. Like, sometimes the most comical things are tragic in the world and vice versa. And, theater. I love watching theater. We were part of the theater. I like the theater of the absurd, and I like reading, and I respond to literature a lot. At the moment, I also wanted to go visit the site and work with some demo sites specific to the Kazan lands in Goa, like mangroves and salt pans, and look into the ecological aspect of it. I look at what kind of objects are there? Or maybe climbing the mountain. I went for a trek recently. What kind of rocks are there? So these are the observations & nodes, which I do, wherever I am. So I think landscape is a new thing, which I’m trying to point to and explore.
And since you said that, lately you started reconnecting with nature and It has been your recent muse in your art. Has your relationship with art changed or evolved over the years?
I don’t like to say figurative, but yes, I have used a lot of figuration in my work. Right now I’m going towards a certain form of abstraction which I’m enjoying, and landscapes and space have become important. And of course, I mean nature. And looking into that is kind of giving me another perspective, a larger than life perspective. I’m not trying to say that figuration doesn’t do that or landscape does. It’s just.my concerns are getting broader, and I am really respectful of that going to the residency or going to the trek. I think these things help you open you up rather than being contained. So there are few moments which I love to contemplate with human relations or human complexities, but at the same time, what is happening around the world or what is, you know, a part of your daily life or let’s say, immediate realities in nature, they kind of hit you. So I’m just responding to that.
What does your creative process look like? Are there any rituals you like to follow or something like that while doing your work or in your art practice?
Cleaning is a big ritual because I have a lot of stuff which I hold and keep, especially during the pandemic when we could not go out. Post lockdown the first thing I went to was the stationary Now I think I have three years stock, which I’m thankful for. Second was cleaning. Also when I’m cleaning, I also figure out what I want to do because I have those materials. I’m looking at them. And indeed to me, you know, poetry, image making, painting, then performance art, they are all performance art is basically me taking those images and animating them into the real time. So yeah, I think that the rituals of, going for a walk, then, watching theater, watching films, reading and cleaning. And when you clean, you recognize the materials and mediums around your studio here, and you walk around your studio. Even walking is work for me. Even thinking about art or looking at art is work for me.
What is one piece of advice you would offer to young artists that are just starting out in the visual art space?
Be kinder to yourself and take your time to understand the art world. It is complex, but hang in there like it’s okay. You just focus on your work, be honest and just keep working. You just keep working and be true to whatever you believe in. That’s all. You’ll figure it out, what to do and what not to do, but be kind to yourself first.
What keeps you busy when you’re not you or when you’re not in the studio?
Otherwise, I’m cooking. I’m just hanging out with good people. Go to nature walks or chill with family or relax and, yeah, I think if I’m not doing art or in my studio and watching a film for sure, I know it’s connected to art, but I love spending my time watching film with friends who are family and, yeah, making something or just hanging around. We have this get togethers or, we read out our poems and things like that, or literature readings or if there is a play happening. I try to be active in the regime, or the cultural space and what other people are doing or the other festivals. There are so many things. There’s so much to life, so larger than life.
Which artist’s work usually inspires you? Whether it is the master or a peer or someone totally out of the art world?
Neelima Shaikh her landscapes. Her paintings. It’s a universe I would love to walk into. Which I feel is a safe space or a place of contemplation and then there are many other authors. There is Dana Schutz. There is this Indonesian artist called Melody then, Marina Abramovich and Philip Guston.
I think they are fun. They are very fun. Quirky. They are alive. And yeah, a lot of people are doing great work right now.
Thank you so much for giving such an insightful interview but it was a great interview. Thank you so much.
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To watch the full interview head to our YouTube Channel Art with Abir
Minerva is a visual artist and currently serves as a sub editor at Abir Pothi.
