Bridge of Hesitation. 2021–2022
16 charcoal and watercolour on fabric stretched on padded board

Winged Pauses. 2022
28 unique (14 pairs) framed archival digital prints on Hahnemühle bamboo paper with painted fabric mounts
56.51 x 43.81 cm each

Anju Dodiya’s visual language encompasses references spanning the cross-cultural history of painting, from Indian miniatures to French medieval tapestries, alongside elements of autobiography, allegory and mythology. Bridge of Hesitation (2021–2022) is a suite of ‘mattress paintings’ overlaid with or interrupted by watercolour and charcoal drawings and prints. They reference Daphne, the Greek mythological nymph transformed by her father into a tree to evade the romantic suits of Apollo. Constructing an alternating dialogue between heroism and hesitation as the formal and narrative structure of her work, Dodiya points to the ambivalences of our present moment.
(Text at the exhibition. © Sharjah Art Foundation)

Venue: Gallery 3