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Lot 78

 

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Anju Dodiya’s work frequently references the struggles involved in the process of developing and deconstructing ideas and images and, more specifically, the complexity and violence of her own creative process. Dodiya, a talented draughtsman, uses her paintings to weave "her own legend as though she were a fictional character caught in bizarre but lyrical narrative, a self-disruptive autobiography…[she] compels one to unravel the story, untold... Anju Dodiya’s work frequently references the struggles involved in the process of developing and deconstructing ideas and images and, more specifically, the complexity and violence of her own creative process. Dodiya, a talented draughtsman, uses her paintings to weave "her own legend as though she were a fictional character caught in bizarre but lyrical narrative, a self-disruptive autobiography…[she] compels one to unravel the story, untold and told, of which the single painting seems to be but one isolated frame, and she seems to urge us, ‘Behold! This could be me trapped by art’" (Dilip Chitre, "Anju Dodiya: Enigmatic Variations" in Anju Dodiya: Recent Works, Gallery Chemould, 2001).

In illustrating these highly personal narratives, the artist often draws on mythological and art historical references, as well as her vast collection of clippings from the popular press. In the present lot, Dodiya modifies the Greek myth of Daphne’s transformation into a tree to escape the entreaties of love struck Apollo to explain the maze-like complexity of her creative process, the controls that her art imposes on her, and the freedom from them that she dreams of.

Explaining this adaptation and the evolution of this piece, the artist says that in this work on paper, "…instead of turning into a tree, a plant, she [Daphne] transforms into a labyrinth. When I started this painting the woman was wearing this corset and it is from a 30’s ad. It’s a corset-like garment, but her body is almost flying, it is paradoxical. The restraining aspect of the corset and then this gesture of freedom. I was reminded immediately of Daphne as she appears in a lot of renaissance and pre-renaissance art. Arms thrown up as she transforms into a tree. That’s how the painting started for me. But then I put in…the motif of a ring and a button and there’s what I thought was a rattle but was later enlightened – it is a horse’s bit, the restraining metal check… I was thinking of some contemporary version where she is not escaping from Apollo. It is an escape from the tyranny of the mundane. It is about freedom. It goes beyond sexual freedom. It’s not about escaping the chase, it’s about a situation of complete independence. A total liberation as if. But also, the strange thing is that mutating into a labyrinth is not liberation. So we are kind of getting into a mess" (rpt. in "Gieve Patel talks to Anju Dodiya", Bose Pacia exhibition catalogue, 2006, unpaginated).

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