“The Other Kind of Seeing”

A heightened awareness of recollected moments and a desire for the outside world marks Mahesh Baliga's works, says Chintan Girish Modi.

- Chintan Girish Modi

Mahesh Baliga. Paper Dosa. Casein on board. 12"x 10". 2020. Images courtesy of the artist and Project 88, Mumbai.

Mahesh Baliga's show As I Remember, which has been installed in Project 88's Online Viewing Room from the 23rd of June, offers a deep insight into the workings of the human mind during a time of unwelcome isolation.

Baliga reflects on his own experience of the COVID-19 pandemic to produce a series of paintings using casein tempera. The show circles around the theme of familiarity and recalled encounters.

“What does one do when one fails to perform the everyday? The empty walls become scenes where the regular will be rescripted,” says Baliga in a video that is part of the show. This frustration triggers in him recollections of simple, ordinary experiences that he enjoyed before getting stuck indoors due to the pandemic.