Bakula Nayak, contempoary artist, ink on paper

Close your eyes, ink on paper, 25.4 x 17.8 cm, 2020

Clouded I, ink on paper, 24.1 x 16.5 cm, 2020

Clouded II, ink on paper, 24.1 x 16.5 cm, 2020

Clouded III, ink on paper, 24.1 x 16.5 cm, 2020

I am ok, ink on paper, 25.4 x 17.8 cm, 2020

Bakula Nayak, contempoary artist, collage and drawing

Coralled, ink on paper, 25.4 x 17.8 cm, 2020

Crushed, ink on paper, 25.4 x 17.8 cm, 2020

Life is a bear, ink on paper, 22.9 x 15.2 cm, 2020

Mermaid, ink on paperm 25.4 x 17.8 cm, 2020

I need a kinder inner voice, ink on paper, 25.4 x 17.8 cm, 2020

The very tired girl, ink on paper, 17.8 x 22.9 cm, 2020

Life is a bear, ink on paper, 91.4 x 61 cm, 2020

Soujourner I, ink on paper, 76.2 x 55.9 cm, 2020

Soujourner II, ink on paper, 76.2 x 55.9 cm, 2020

Bakula Nayak, contempoary artist, vintage paper drawing

New shoes, Mixed Media on vintage paper, 26.7 x 19.7 cm, 2020

Burst my bubble, mixed media on vintage paper, 26.7 x 19.7 cm, 2020

Fish out water II, mixed media on vintage paper, 26.7 x 19.7 cm, 2020

Rain on my parade, mixed media on vintage paper, 26.7 x 19.7 cm, 2020

Rain or shine, mixed media on vintage paper, 26.7 x 19.7 cm, 2020

Dwell in possibility, mixed media on vintage paper, 26.7 x 19.7 cm, 2020

Another brick in the wall, mixed media on vintage paper, 26.7 x 19.7 cm, 2020

Free as a bird, mixed media on vintage paper, 26.7 x 19.7 cm, 2020

No Rain No Flowers, mixed media on vintage paper, 26.7 x 19.7 cm, 2020

Promise of Rain, mixed media on vintage paper, 26.7 x 19.7 cm, 2020

Weighted I, mixed media on vintage paper, 26.7 x 19.7 cm, 2020

Weighted II, mixed media on vintage paper, 26.7 x 19.7 cm, 2020

Re-work I, mixed media on paper, 41.3 x 17.1 cm, 2022

Re-work II, mixed media on paper, 41.3 x 17.1 cm, 2022

Re-work III, mixed media on paper, 41.3 x 17.1 cm, 2022

Can I have that tea, mixed media on paper, 34.3 x 21.6 cm, 2022

Can I have that doughnut, mixed media on paper, 34.3 x 21.6 cm, 2022

Can I have that cupcake, mixed media on paper, 34.3 x 21.6 cm, 2022

Can I have that croissant, mixed media on paper, 34.3 x 21.6 cm, 2022

Can I have that burger, mixed media on paper, 34.3 x 21.6 cm, 2022

Bakula Nayak, contempoary artist, photo coolage

The wedding party, photo collage, 11.5 x 17.5 cm, 2022

One moment please, photo collage, 8 x 11 cm, 2022

Holiday I, photo collage, 9 x 12 cm, 2022

Holiday II, photo collage, 9 x 14 cm, 2022

The wedding lunch, photo collage, 11 x 16 cm, 2022

Bakula Nayak, contempoary artist, photo collage

In my arms, photo collage, 11 x 9 cm, 2022

Bakula Nayak, contempoary artist, installation

Wanderlust, installation

Love is blind, installation

Time will tell, installation

I am ok. and other lies I tell

When Pittsburg based artist Bakula Nayak began painting in 2013 she was at a critical juncture in her life, having to give up a successful communications design career and begin a decade long journey of living with chronic pain. In my quest to fully appreciate Nayak’s paintings, collages and installations, and as I read more about the experience of living with pain it became clear that pain is defined by three characteristics: it is subjective, individual and mobile, it is experienced differently by each of us, at different moments in time and in different parts of our conscious and subconscious selves. Nayak’s art is autobiographical and her practice cathartic, a way to communicate this rather lonely experience with the world.

The centrality of the female form in her art points to the complicated relationship Nayak has with her physical being, the struggles between the outward appearance of normality and the internal management of the hidden, elusive qualities of pain. A strong representational element mixes numerous symbols, surfaces, techniques to create works with a caustic sense of humour. There is the record of being loved and supported in the installation ‘Love is Blind’, in finding comfort in the rituals of tea, solace in the garden. Thus we see repeated references to hope, perseverance and rejuvenation in the blooming flowers, koi fish, mushrooms and other natural elements. The mood vacillates between helplessness (clouds, puddles, stairs, cage, blocks of ice) and strength (bird, rope, nest, dragon et al). A central narrative in Nayak’s work is that which is hidden, invisible, difficult to understand and she uses the idea of the cross-section, in for example ‘Rain on my Parade’ and ‘Weighted 1 & 2’, to highlight the need to look closely, look deeper and look longer to appreciate the internal world of the sufferer and the subjective experience of chronic illness.

The paintings are beautifully stark, with a minimal palette and precise lines and motifs. The installations in contrast are whimsical and playful, using found objects while the collages use vintage paper and cutouts to tap into large feminist discourses referencing patriarchal notions of physical beauty, gendered medical practices and limited access to care. As a whole the exhibition strikes a thoughtful register giving us a glimpse into Nayak’s social, psychological, medical and artistic life and her gradual acceptance, stoic resilience and tentative hopefulness.

Deeksha Nath

2022

Artists

Bakula Nayak
I am ok. & other lies I tell
13/10/2022 - 12/11/2022
11am to 7pm (Sundays closed)

Time will tell, installation

I am ok. and other lies I tell

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