When artist Ashish Monga quit his engineering job in 2014 to follow his passion for art, he didn't entirely leave behind his technical skills. Today, he uses his knowledge of technology to bring freshness to his artworks.
“I was into art from childhood. Despite leaving my job, I have merged my skills of drawing and painting with my ideas of engineering. I wanted to use my knowledge of technology to add uniqueness and creativity to my pieces,” he says.
In his upcoming solo show titled 'Inorganic', the artist uses paint on canvas along with several basic electrical components. His works talk about the increasing dependence of humans on electronic gadgets such as laptops, mobile phones, e-pads, air conditioners, navigation etc.
“My work is related to technical humans. So I am not just working with paint on canvas, I have also used aluminium rivets and electronic components like resistors, capacitors, diodes, transistors, transformers and wires. The idea was to show real technical things,” he says.
The artist highlights the change technology has brought in the lives of humans. In the upcoming showcase, the artist showcases 50 works of which 17 have been made using water colour, 13 using x-ray sheets and the rest in acrylic.
“If we see our surroundings, ample electronics and electrical equipment exist around us in our day to day life. Its a strong bond that we share with engineering equipment. In this exhibition, I am trying to show this bond as a layer of technology on humans. My works only highlight the change that has emerged due to the coming of technology. It is not highlighting the pros and cons that technology brings with itself.”
Despite working with electrical equipments, Monga is quite concerned about the material and ensures to source the right ones to ensure durability and life of his art pieces. “I order the components such as fabric strings (which look like a wire) from my hometown, Sarsawa in Saharanpur district in Uttar Pradesh. I refrain from using plastic because it is not durable and accumulates dust. I ensure durability by using acrylic colours,” he adds.
The exhibition is open from March 30-April 5 at All India Fine Arts and Crafts Society in New Delhi. This happens to be the third solo show of the artist.