“No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man.” – Heraclitus. Artist Suruchi Choksi is a great believer of this proverb by Heraclitus. As I stood in her studio, facing her on the third day of my internship, these exact words played out in front of me and took shape. Her artwork denotes issues related to “space, limits, absence and elsewhere.” She is a completely self-taught artist, nevertheless, the first three words seem to be self-explanatory. Her philosophy of elsewhere as a theory and a theme was challenging in the beginning so I persisted her and the explanations made me fall in love with her works all over again. Thence, began my journey into her art.
What exactly does elsewhere mean to you?
When asked this question, Choksi took a few minutes to answer, but when she did, it mesmerised all of us. She said, “the hankering of not being in the moment.” The feeling of dissatisfaction because we think that happiness is elsewhere, our goals are elsewhere, success is elsewhere and this feeling of elsewhere is leaving us nowhere. Therefore, many of her artworks divulge into the concept of being in the moment, otherwise the lead to no direction in specific and you will be left with nothing in hand. The greed for wanting more in life doesn’t really lead to a destination but instead steals you of the present moment and hence leaves you unsatisfied.
What do the blurry lines signify?
No one is perfect and the concept of being perfect is a perception which can differ from one person to the other. When listening to Suruchi Choksi speak about her Memory series, which is not only mesmerising to look at but also the explanations of the images hone the different perceptions of truth I had. No matter what story we tell, each version of that story turns out separate because every time we look at the same story we have gone through a temporal change which has changed us personally, which causes us to blur some edges and add some details to make each version more interesting for the listener.
In the end, Artist Suruchi Choksi’s work has one main focus which I realised was to tastefully, and subtly tell the world to live in the moment or the moment will be lost to you forever. Her art is her way of portraying her thoughts is very unique and has touched a lot of hearts including mine.
What is your way of living in the moment?
Artwork: Memory Trace # 6 – Limited Edition 2 of 5, New Media, Suruchi Choksi