You would see life unfold in front of your as you pass from canvas to canvas painted by Hemali Vadalia. The artist whose solo show begins from tomorrow in the Subcontinent, Mumbai, not just presents you with art, but with daily life, complete with the nuances of domestic chores through the exhibition. Each of the instances on the canvas feels deeply relatable to every viewer and that is what makes her artworks stand out.
Considered within the leagues of the leading contemporary painters, Hemali Vadalia weaves autobiographical narratives through her paintings. It captures the perfect intimacy of working in the kitchens or the smaller celebrations of life.
Having survived cancer in her thirties, Vadalia gives attention to the value of stillness and elegant grace in seemingly repetitive household chores. Her observations, extremely sharp and keen, make the scene come alive, down to the last detail. Her canvases uphold the vulnerability and care of everyday life which takes shape due to fragility and resilience.
Her canvases capture the happiness and excitement of decorating the house for a birthday celebration, where every member of the family has something to do. Right from actually putting up the decorations to being an assistant with a cellotape, to being lost with the morning headlines or just being an onlooker with suggestions, it is all there on the canvas.
In her work titled Kombucha, she captures a young girl trying to make the drink in the kitchen. Apart from a messy countertop, it also points out how life is taking a 360-degree turn to staying fit and healthy and how today people are more aware of what they consume and how beneficial it is for their body. Probably the painting that draws nostalgia at its core is the Stargazers. While today stargazing is an actual promoted tourism variety, it used to be an everyday activity. Her works are drawn from memory and the everyday which becomes her greatest virtue in capturing the viewer’s attention.