Showing the importance of having someone there for you, Michelle Poonawalla’s drawings are celebrating friendship and companionship. She is showcasing a new series of drawings at 079 Stories gallery in Ahmedabad as part of KAGAZ, a group exhibition of works on paper which runs until 26 February. Poonawalla is showcasing five portraits taken in her home city of Pune.
Michelle Poonawalla grew up between the UK and India and art was an integral part of her early life. A graduate of American College, London, Poonawalla’s practice emerged with her exhibition at the Gateway School, Mumbai, in 2016, for which she worked closely with special needs children. Poonawalla has gone on to exhibit her work in India and internationally. Poonawalla’s practice combines a more formal paint on canvas style with experimental digital technology, particularly digital video mapping and motion sensor technology, to create interactive works that push boundaries of conventional painting.
Michelle Poonawalla’s drawings are made with the intention of creating a reflection moments and made them think about their surroundings and wider world and what’s happening there. According to Poonawalla, drawing and works on paper represent a very personal and emotive medium, which helps her to portray the emotion of the subject.
KAGAZ is a celebration of Paper as the strongest and the most versatile medium of expressing oneself may it be in the form of words, crafts, or art. Alongside Poonawalla the exhibition presents 21 artists from across the country displaying works on paper including Anuj Ambalal, Al Qawi Nanawati, Ashish Kushwaha, Claire Iono, Ghanshyam Rathod, Hindol Brahmbhatt, Krishnendu Roy, Malabika Burman, Milburn Cherian, Pradeep Ahirwar, Rachnan Badrakia, Ronak Sopariwala, Satish Gupta, Shahanshah Mittal, Shefali Nayan, Shrikant Kadam, Vikesh Ghosh and Viraj Mithani.
Poonawalla has exhibited at the Saatchi Gallery, London (as part of START, September 2019); Alserkal Avenue, Dubai (Dubai Art Week, March 2019); and as a collateral project at the Kochi Biennale, India (Kochi-Muziris Biennale, 2018). More recently Poonawalla has begun exploring work with shorter digital format films. Her 3min 36 second film Circle of Life addresses the idea of memory was exhibited at the 7th Mediations Biennale in Poland. Other digital works have been shown on SedtionArt.com and World Art Dubai.