Sarmistha Banerjee
Curator’s note: It takes hours, if not days, for Buddhist monks to create stunningly intricate sand mandalas, only to destroy them the moment they are completed. Their appeal lies in their ephemerality. This beautifully exemplifies the concept of Capriccio in art: ruins can be hauntingly beautiful. In this piece, Sarmistha Banerjee masterfully juxtaposes two forms of ruins—those of a relationship and those of cave paintings. By relocating the subjects of Wong Kar-wai’s 2000 classic, In the Mood for Love, to foreground the ruins of an Ajanta-inspired mandala, Banerjee evokes a poignant beauty in ruins. The ancient motifs of the Ajanta caves, much like love, are painstakingly created despite their vulnerability to the ravages of time.
Sarmistha Banerjee has done her Masters and MPhil in Economics from Calcutta University and is currently pursuing her PhD from Jadavpur University. For her, painting is a hobby and most importantly an escape route from the maddening world of academia.
Ptenopus 