Featured Auction Lot #21 - Hema Upadhyay

TODAY'S FEATURED LOT

21: Hema Upadhyay, Sculpture
Derelict, 2007
42" x 55" x 44"
Matchsticks, Glue, Wooden Frame, steel cable.
From INDIA: New Installations, Part II
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In Upadhyay's 2007 Mattress Factory installation Derelict, three sculptures made from matchsticks in the shapes of chandeliers were placed within the 4th floor space. One hung from a single wire, almost touching the floor. The second (and piece currently up for auction) appears to have been crushed against the wall. A third hung from the ceiling at the far end of the room.

Hema Upadhyay on Derelict: "The crux of the work is that it comes from the idea of using materials that are flammable, literally. And everybody’s familiar with that.... People are like, 'ok this is a matchstick, and it’s a potent, flammable object. I want to use it in a destructive way.' A lot of these works stem from my own personal experiences in Mumbai and are a response to what is happening all over the world in terms of war."

Hema Upadhyay on living and working in Pittsburgh: "In the city of Pittsburgh, and in my neighborhood here where I’m living, I have seen that a lot of homes are abandoned. It’s almost like somebody just left and wasn’t allowed to take their things. It kind of builds your own fantasy, and stories and myths about certain things and the objects from these homes. A chandelier has a connotation of wealth. In earlier days we may have thought that only rich people could afford chandeliers because they are made with crystals and semi-precious stones and things of that sort. In this piece there’s one chandelier crushed into the wall, so that it’s almost breaking apart. One is hanging very pretty and one is just on the floor. The silhouettes now read as people who were possessing these objecT...they become the shadow of the object."

CONDITION REPORT: Hema Upadhyay created this matchstick sculpture on-location in the late summer of 2007 as part of the INDIA: New Installations, Part 2 exhibition that ran from 9/7/2007 through 1/20/2008. It has not left the MF facility since it was created, therefore the piece is in perfect condition.

ARTIST BIO: Hema Upadhyay (b. 1972) received her BFA in Painting and her MFA in Printmaking both from the Faculty of Fine Arts, Baroda. Her work in mixed media and installation addresses issues of migration and displacement in India from her personal point of view while at the same time using Indian religious symbols such as the lotus or images from temple carvings. She won the Tenth Indian Triennial in 2001. She received the National Scholarship and the Gujarat State Award in 1996. She participated in a residency at Art Space in Sydney in 2001 and Vasl Residency in Karachi in 2003. She was included in Indian Summer at the École des Beaux Arts, Paris.

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Posted by JEFFREY
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