ARUNKUMAR HG
Arunkumar’s sustained artistic investigation into a diversity of ecological concerns brings forth disharmonies, which are created by rampant consumerist culture. This spread is in inverse proportion to the great decline of natural resources and habitats. With each work, Arunkumar brings in his own local, historical and cultural milieu. The work becomes a generative rather than a conclusive commentary of his concerns regarding the environment at large.
Arunkumar’s solo shows include: CON-struction, Gallery Espace, New Delhi [2018]; In-site, Aicon Gallery, New York [2018]; Seed of Reckoning, Mumbai Art Room [2012]; Tract, Nature Morte, New Delhi [2010]; Feed, Nature Morte in New Delhi and Sakshi Gallery in Mumbai [2006].
The artist lives and works in New Delhi.
About The Work
Courtesy of Gallery Espace, New Delhi
This human form stands upright, imposing its power yet it quietly reveals its own fragility. Made from repurposed industrial wood, the body carries the tension between strength and exhaustion. Once part of a living forest, a silent holder of carbon and life, the material now exists as a remnant — shaped by use, extraction, and over consumed.
The figure feels unfinished, almost paused in time. It could be in the process of becoming, or slowly breaking apart.
This in-between state reflects our relationship with nature today, where care and destruction exist side by side. Part human, part fractured tree, the form speaks of power, but also of vulnerability. The wood, even in its altered state, holds the memory of the forest it once belonged to.