ARTIST'S STATEMENT

It all begins with the idea of a CENOTAPH. Generally speaking, a cenotaph is an empty tomblike monument erected in honor of the deceased, usually soldiers or martyrs. My works may or may not directly remind you about a cenotaph but in a way are books (burnt books) not cenotaphs of civilization, that have forgotten the high ideals of spreading knowledge. The city, the state, the nation where the tom-tom of pseudo-nationalism is disturbing the basic fabric of our day to day existence burnt books are my expressions against this "whole rotten state of Denmark". Books, objects, suspended free-forms, pages all have to pass through this passage through fire to emerge with a new meaning. These works bear this inheritance of fire, and reflects the scars that time have given me.

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About the ARTIST

Malia Bhattacharjee is a B.V.A & M.V.A in Sculpture (with 1st class, Rabindra Bharati University). Between 2003 and 2016 she participated in numerous group shows at the Academy Of Fine Arts (Show With Confluent), Sanskriti Art Gallery (Mumbai), Lalit Kala Academy (New Delhi), a show in Bengaluru, and at the Birla Academy Of Art And Culture. Malia was also selected for Cima Award Show (2017). She makes a very novel form of art by unleashing angst on the pages of books via flames – literal flames. In more ordinary words, she burns books, not on the whole, but in part, from their entrails to outer edges. Her art object and medium is essentially the “book” to she applies her personal pyrotechniques to make what she calls “cenotaphs”. “Books, objects, suspended free-forms, pages all have to pass through this passage through fire to emerge with a new meaning” ro be able to reflect the scars of time. Malia teaches art in school and presently lives and works in Kolkata.

Malia Bhattacharjee © 2016

Published 31st December, 2016