What passes for art, in our avaricious present, is usually something, that, riding high on the social media and technology, caters to the lowest denominator of emotional connect. Highest of art, on the other hand, uplifts, inspires and deepens the human spirit. It has the power to evolve human thought and consciousness. Notwithstanding these extremities, true artistic endeavor must, and does, spring forth from an instinct for aesthetics, a genuine openness of thought, and above all, purity of spirit. What tugs at the heartstrings, a thing of beauty – music, literature, art – is what is close to our hearts in some way, through associations of the human psyche – elements of identity, belongingness, nature, stories that built our consciousness, and stories that we built in our imagination. A work of art is one
that touches us and resonates somewhere with these elements.

Rashmi Rai’s art explores the interplay of our jaded, bland, urban existence with vistas of rustic charm, or of faraway town allure. Many are the moments when we pass by an utterly beautiful sight, unaware and unmindful; for beauty may not be an attention-seeking, carefully presented offering. Not always. It may, in fact, more often manifest in careless abandon, unconscious disarray. Whereas we may keenly admire manicured resorts, forts, gardens or palaces, it is equally, if not more, glimpses of unpremeditated, scattered sights that gladden the heart. Glimpses, for instance, of a crooked street, a decrepit corner, a chance glance into an alley, a shuttered door, etc., form a good part of our subconscious reminisces. And many again are those moments when we do pause, and absorb the vista but lack the vocabulary to voice what we experienced. The heart yearns to relive the moment, to share the joy with someone. It is this subtle yearning that finds succor in Rai’s photographs.

Rai is prolific with her camera and it lends a spontaneity, a sense of innocent charm to her shots. Yet, behind this seemingly guileless spontaneity is several years of earlier practice as a painter, often also taking consignments as a commercial artist and designer. She also later studied photography at the Triveni Kala Sangam and has in fact taken a slow and tortuous route to reach this seemingly instantly gratifying phase of creativity.

The viewers can partake of the nostalgic images from the artist’s Breaths and Boundaries collection; they stir and refresh the warmth that enveloped the common shared spirit when these were consigned to memory. The artist’s and the ours.

Gargi Seth, curator, India Art Circle, New Delhi