In a fever dream, you may experience more intense emotions, more bizarre narratives, distorted sensory perception, and vastly different environments from real life than in your normal dreams. Keen observation of his environment and a profound impression left by significant social interactions continue to shape Viraj Khanna’s practice as an artist. For this body of figurative creations, he draws from a collective sum of life experiences that have entrenched themselves deep within his subconscious, stimulating his psyche intensely. His encounters with a motley crew of indelible characters have culminated in vivid pastiches of carnivalesque non-realistic figures that seem to defy society's paradigm of normative behaviour. Having been surrounded by textiles and embroidery from an early age, Khanna’s medium of choice here is a natural progression — from his craft of trade to now his art. For him, deconstructing and reassembling visuals is an intrinsic part of the creative process. His figurations, born from a preliminary step of collage-making, possess a certain fluidity of form — a direct reference to the mutability of human personae. He confirms, “This series is a reflection of my personal experiences and the way I relate to the world.
When I create, I think about the human condition, about people and their behaviours. Societal influences changing our personalities and the way we perceive reality interest me greatly. This time, I have used different elements such as thread, beads, pearls, and other hand-created materials in order to give structure to my figurative work. A multitude of things within serves to express the various experiences that have made an impact on me. Also, I’ve gleaned that it is often wise to take everything with a pinch of salt.”Khanna realises that one's outward identity is affected by the societal forces around them, often leading to a masking of their true nature. This acute awareness is reflected in his current body of works, which portrays the colourful complexity of human nature. Essentially, it emphasises their tendency to exaggerate and embellish their everyday reality, fuelled by an inherent need to appear larger than life. He encourages us not only to be a spectator to this masquerade, admire its obvious extravagance (and the concerted effort behind putting on such a show), but also to try to see beyond its overtly flamboyant facade and parse its underlying, more imperceptible motivations. His fanciful creations are threaded into tapestries embodying a phantasmagoric riot of outlandish figures, with a shapeshifting quality reminiscent of a particularly frenetic fever dream.
One of the pieces depicts a striking wild-haired figure dressed in vibrant hues and textures, with pointed features and rows of sharp, tiny teeth. It has the air of one who is both innocent, and savagely untrammelled at the same time — an individual containing contradictions and a multitude of layers within. What do the overblown gestures of people really convey? What vulnerabilities do their apparent excesses attempt to hide? Khanna urges us to pay attention to these subliminal messages consciously, with wit and sensitivity rather than being intimidated by them. He suggests we read between the lines when gauging people’s characters, and to take cognizance of each of our own uniquely nuanced personalities and styles of expression. The works evince both a fervent ardour and a playful whimsy in his practice.
‘Exaggeration is in the course of things.Nature sends no creature, no man into the world, without adding a small excess of his proper quality.’
— RALPH WALDO EMERSON
