Know the life journey of a masterpiece with Preksha Tater!!

Preksha Tater is an artist based in Surat, Gujarat .After her postgraduation in 2007, she participated in many National and International exhibitions and residencies. She is the recipient of ‘Nasreen Mohamedi’ Award for the best display in the year 2007.In the year 2009, she was awarded ‘Inlakes India Foundation’ award. In the same year she was amongst ten selected artist for the ‘Vedhera Annual Group Show’ as part of FICA emerging artist. She also did her solo show 'Small wonders' in the same year.

Her artistic investigation is a flux of multiplicity in mediums of expressions like drawings, sculptures and installations. Over years, her practice has evolved as a responsive relation to her ‘Space/Place’, it is both emotive and metaphysical. From large scale installation projects, to extremely personal studio-based practice, she navigates through space and time to evoke artistic memoirs. In materiality and its sensation, she liberates herself through the act making.

Here we have Preksha, who answers some of our questions to give us insight into the journey we are looking forward to know:

1) How do you finalize the colour combination and the elements of your artwork?

As an artist, I believe in my intuitive nature of practice, which is my sub- conscious reaction to my experience. Elements and the colours are decided in correlation to each other and to bring harmony in the works along with satire, humour and statement of my purpose.

2) What are the final preparations you do before your artworks get displayed?

I try to be calm and let my instinct work according to the space and place where the artwork is going to be displayed. Here, instinct is only my tool of execution but I am always very much aware of the technicalities, laws of physics, psychological impact of my pieces as well as the viewers who will be looking at my work.

3) How do you finalise the form (painting/sculpture/printmaking) of the piece that you at first thought of making?

-For me medium of expression is no bar.
I go one at a time and in the end, all can be combined to make one work.

4) To what extent presentation affects the artwork display?

- Whether it's a solo or a group show space design is very important part of my practice. How you bring the entire fragments of your work together is the most significant part of an artwork display. Elements like light, climatic condition, site of execution etc. they all bring different moods and experience into the minds of the viewer while looking at an artwork.

A process-based work is never finished until it's been displayed in a manner one has visualized. It remains as a fragment.

5) Has the viewer ever interpreted your artwork in a way you did not intend to portray?

Whether the work is titled or untitled I like to leave my work open-ended. I believe once the work is done it’s up to the viewer to Interpret or re-interpret according to their perception. It’s interesting to understand how viewer's interpret artwork according to their knowledge, experience, age, caste, politics etc.

6) Does your artwork reflect the influence of the artist/s who inspire you? If yes, then how ? Or why no?

I will not say that it reflects the influence of the artist but in most cases, I try to para phrase them whenever it is required. Paraphrasing helps me not to repeatedly say the same thing what has been told before and it also allows me to justify the context through which I look at my work.