Gaurav Jai Gupta unravels the multi-layering of the subconscious mind through lensman Trey Ratcliffs efficacious images, as if watching it through the prism of Carl Jungs interesting observations on our life and times.
By Asmita Aggarwal
It is quite serendipitous that Gaurav Jai Gupta relooks at handlooms, this autumn-winter 2016 and the FDCI launches the India Modern campaign. He says with this line, he has come a full circle and this is also his first solo show.
Trey Ratcliffs photographs were the foundation and in many ways the spark, that ignited this potent line. Growing up partially blind, it was almost no less than a miracle that Trey would become a photographer and this dichotomy finds its way into Gauravs line. From silk, merino wools (thanks to his Woolmark Prize selection experience) and fewer cottons, he has experimented with reversible fabrics, which have been enlivened with stainless steel. It is what I would call industrial meets a very modern outlook as the idea was to not get trapped in tradition. Frankly, I am bored of textiles, and everyone is now talking about weaves; there is an overdose and it has increasingly become a rat race. I am breaking free from this format and have attempted to simplify things, he adds.
Gaurav has made separates, and done lots of layering and most of the colour seeps in through the lining, as satins and pocket detailing along with a metallic sheen add a surreal edge to the line. But beneath the shine is a deep metaphysical question—-What happens when we die? And Gaurav attempts to ask this. No one has actually figured this out and then they say that whatever we see around us is an illusion. We are anyway living in times when everything is too much, he says wistfully.
Four weeks back his hometown, Rohtak saw riots, and then the JNU agitation where he heard different stories from all sides. Which made him ask himself, what is reality? Thats why Treys pictures spoke to him in myriad ways—architectural, black and white notes so there wasnt one thing that lured him. What you are seeking is really seeking you, is a philosophy that has been the motivating force for me. It is also a struggle between internal and external and conscious and subconscious as well as motion and static, which is why this line is also the most special for me, till date, he adds.
The duality and multi-layering and specially Treys Tokyo street images made a deep impact on Gaurav, who does not like much colour in his line and keeps it basic. Treys images are a complete opposite of him, as he is a commercial photographer, who also believes a lot in retouching his images. The last two years have been tumultuous for me and this line is a culmination of those diverse thoughts which have been part of my subconscious on many levels, he concludes.