A self-confessed stubborn romantic, Bakula Nayak noses out the magic stifled in the everyday and elevates the mundane into something bright, dreamy and unique through her art. With an undergraduate degree in architecture and an MS in Communication Design from Pratt Institute, Manhattan, Bakula began her career at a fragrance house in New York. Following this, she pulled a long stint in retail package design with global brands such as L’oreal, Mikasa and Ralph Lauren, before moving back to India where she embarked upon her journey as an artist. She now lives in Pittsburgh, USA.
Medium: Mixed media on vintage paper
Size: 22 x 16 inches (with framed)
Year: 1955
LIKE THE AIR I BREATHE is her only art show this year – one that emphasizes her need for love and one that reinforces her belief that love is what this world needs – in all it’s forms. She says “Collecting vintage paper is a passion I have had for years. I love to imagine their lives and the people who owned them. My paintings are an attempt to give new life to these forgotten pieces of beauty. Aged beautifully, they form the perfect canvas to interpret the reality of my world, an unfinished inventory of my daydreaming, my love for all things vintage and reflects my insane desire for romance, aesthetics, poetics and seduction in everything. I live in an alternate world.
Size: 21 x 14.25 inches (with framed)
Year: Circa 1950
Or maybe THAT is my real-world; I look at this world passing by – in montages, sometimes in fast-forward and sometimes in slow motion. Reality constricts me and I am not in sync with it. Motherhood thrice over has further complicated my crazy bonhomie life. It has led me to a whole new elevated level of vagueness, amnesia and franticness. Tea is my daily soothing ritual to combat that. Oh the beautiful places I visit, the wonderful people I have conversations with and the awesome things I do… all in my head… when I drink tea. You will find that my paintings carry this obsession I have for tea.
My work is mostly inspired by the stories woven in these documents themselves and peppered with liberal doses of my storytelling abilities. I often find these stories colliding with my own reality. I hope my art invites you into a space of speculation, elicits a smile and brings some romance into your every day as well.”
Text and photos: Kalakriti Art Gallery. The exhibition is on view from August 3- Spetember 2, 2019.
