Memory of Red

The art of Smriti Dixit is born out of her experiences with everyday life. Drawing on small moments and intimate interactions, she fashions objects carefully, using handmade techniques, engaging in the tactility of her materials, becoming familiar with their specific properties. 

Dixit’s art is an indelibly feminine procedure, finding its foundations in the process of its creation as much as in its final form.  The artworks in this series are not only a reflection of its maker’s  interiority, but documents of a specific time and place.  Here, Smriti expands her preoccupation with materials and ideas that have been central to her practice for over a decade. Through her wall mounted and site-specific installations, she connects personal and collective memories, revealing that history is not recorded  by objects, but imagined through them. Her work investigates the potential of the neglected, and the lyricism of the forgotten.  In this sense, Smriti Dixit collects the future ruins of our civilization, a reminder that we are only remembered by what we leave behind.

Dixit’s most iconic work to date is Trap. Mimicking the intricate web of a white spider, Dixit creates a series of tunnels interweaving plastic price tags. The fragile and seductive quality of the web conflicts with the pernicious undertones of its purpose to ensnare and devour,  drawing parallels to the sweet intoxicating trap of consumerism.  The work, created over a period of 20 days was part of her 2012 exhibition Feasting & Fasting, at Art Musings.  A variant of the work was exhibited in a solo booth with Art Musings at the India Art Fair, 2013.  This work will be seen at the Jaya He GVK New Museum, the Airport Art Project.  At the St Moritz Art Masters, 2014 the Andrea Robbi Museum exhibited and acquired another variant of Trap. 

In the 2015 edition of the Art Fair, Art Musings is presenting a site-specific work from the series ‘Memory of Red’ in the special project section. 

The artist lives and works in Mumbai.