The fact that Darshil (Gujarat, b.1986) has seen his artwork influenced by his experience as an architect is undeniable. This experience, however, has influenced him in more ways than merely providing an aesthetic asset present in most of his works. This experience has also allowed him to understand the underlying principles shared by many cultures around the globe.
However, if there’s an event in Darshil’s life that has deeply marked his artistic practice, that’s Darshil’s 10 days of Vipassana meditation, a truly spiritual and existential awakening. This process led him to commence exploration on life and a journey throughout India, years of philosophy and anthropology studying and highlighting of art practice in his personal life.
This art practice has been especially productive, ending up with over 300 works as part of 15 series. The meditative state is an inherent part of this process, with an almost unconscious approach to the movement of the pen on the paper. The intertwining of lines and dots reminds us of cosmopolitan landscapes where buildings stuff every street and alley.
Yet, in Darshil’s landscapes, these buildings are not just beings of their own, but rather, act like cells of a bigger organism in which the flow of life that the individuals live outside mirrors the process that occurs inside their bodies.
This mirrors the way Darshil views his work, as, in the artist’s own words:
“I perceive my work in a specific way, expression of art is directly proportional to the amount of patience I have in my inner pot of consciousness. I am loud in the realm of silence.”
In a world of fast-paced changes, we constantly find ourselves in need of a pause. Not the pause of a lunch break, but rather, the disconnection from the outside. Darshil’s work possesses this trait, a Doric and serene essence that takes us to simply stop. Stop and observe. Stop and contemplate in a way we`re not accustomed to, introducing ourselves in those streets and alleys in saturated organisms of lines and dots, organisms yet clean and stable, with plenty of room for wondering.
The equilibrium between these and the plenty white space found elsewhere can only add up to the sensation that we are facing something quasi-mystical, almost eternal.
These are the traits that make art that survives the passing of time. An art that understands the expression of its own time, yet speaks to human truths that remain intact, generation after generation.