Date: 27th September – 1st October (Bikaner House)
Timings: 11 AM – 7 PM
Venue: Living Traditions Centre, Bikaner House, New Delhi
Extended Venue: Till 31st October at Black Cube Gallery, New Delhi.
Description: Sanya Malik, Founder and Director of Black Cube Gallery, presents Vartaman, a solo exhibition by contemporary artist Yashika Sugandh. The show, a poetic exploration of the delicate balance between humanity and nature, opens to the public on 27th September to 1st October at the Living Traditions Centre, Bikaner House, New Delhi.
A nostalgic wonderland, Yashika Sugandh’s Vartaman delves into the profound interplay between humanity and nature, capturing the essence of the present moment with a wondrous imagination that seamlessly blends the two realms. Her work poignantly reflects a deep remorse for humanity’s encroachment on nature’s domain, urging us to reintegrate nature into our lives as we have increasingly taken over its space.
Central to Yashika’s vision is a profound reverence for nature, symbolised through the recurring motif of tree branches. These organic forms remind us of the nurturing essence of trees and our interconnectedness with the natural world. Her meticulous painting technique, influenced by her appreciation for Indian miniature art, creates a unique visual language that speaks to the soul and stirs the imagination.
Through Vartaman, Yashika poses thought-provoking questions about humanity’s relationship with the environment, challenging viewers to consider their impact on nature and their responsibility toward its preservation. Her art embodies the ethos of humility, tolerance, and selfless service, echoing the timeless wisdom of the Bhagavad Gita. Much like the trees, which epitomize “Paropkar” as selfless compassion and service, Yashika’s work invites us to cultivate a spirit of reverence for all living beings and a deep respect for the interconnected web of life that sustains us.
Following its conclusion at Bikaner House on October 1st, Vartaman will continue at Black Cube Gallery, New Delhi till 31st October and offer audiences an extended opportunity to engage with Yashika’s works.
Curatorial Note : Yashika Sugandh is a visionary not because she escapes reality, but because she pays deep attention to it. Her delicate, intricate drawings conjure a world where snails carry giraffes, monkeys snack on watermelon tails, and turtles become tomatoes. These anatomical fusions are whimsical, but never shallow; they are held together by an ethic of wonder, tenderness, and ecological imagination.
Sugandh collaborates with nature rather than just depicting it, using twigs, wasp nests, butterfly cocoons and found objects as mediums. Her hybrid creatures suggest cohesion of humanity and nature, and each fine brushstroke poses quiet, radical questions: What if every being had what it needed to survive? What if growth was possible anywhere, even on old machines? Time, in Sugandh’s work, does not tick, it expands.
Through kinetic sculptures and slow, meditative drawing, she invites the viewer to dwell. Above all, Sugandh’s work invites us to soften, to notice the easily missed, the fragile, the barely-there. In a world that asks us to rush past, Vartaman asks us to stay a little longer. Not in resistance, but in reverence.
About the Artist –
Yashika Sugandh (b. 1993, Kolkata) is a contemporary Indian visual artist whose work reflects a deep, intuitive connection with nature and the unseen lives of flora and fauna amidst urbanization. Raised in New Delhi and now based in Noida, Sugandh holds both a BFA and MFA in Painting from Amity University, Noida. Her artistic journey began at the tender age of four, when her mother recognized her early inclination toward drawing, a passion that has since evolved into a deeply personal and evocative practice.
Sugandh’s art serves as a visual diary, rooted in memory, movement, and emotional landscapes. Her compositions, often anchored by recurring elements like tree branches, reflect the artist’s empathy for the natural world and its silent resilience in the face of rapid environmental change. Drawing on the visual language of Indian miniature painting, she constructs intricate, meditative works that blend conscious observation with subconscious reflection.
Her subjects are both imagined and real; an ecosystem of beings displaced, adapting, and quietly resisting. Motivated by the question of coexistence, her work explores what it might mean for nature to reclaim its space: Can trees grow through furniture? Can animals grow their own food on what we’ve taken from them? These speculative, poetic inquiries offer both critique and comfort, inviting viewers into a space of nostalgia, playfulness, and profound respect for nature’s selfless generosity.
Through her art, Yashika Sugandh channels a spirit akin to the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita; calling for humility, tolerance, and compassionate service, much like the trees she honours: quiet, enduring, and generous.
Her practice has been showcased in notable group exhibitions including Art Mumbai, India Art Fair, Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Black Cube Gallery, Jehangir Art Gallery, ICCR, Lalit Kala Akademi, IGNCA, HT City Imagine Fest, and Artbuzz Studios. She has also shown internationally through platforms like Emergent Art Space. Sugandh was invited by renowned international brand Hermés to design and produce artwork for their store windows at their flagship store in Mumbai in 2024.
Sugandh has received accolades such as the City Award for Delhi in Kalanand Art by the Prafulla Dahanukar Art Foundation (2017) and the All-India Merit Grant for Lockdown Art (2021).
About Black Cube – Black Cube Gallery is a modern and contemporary art space that challenges conventional hierarchies by bringing together established and emerging artists in a shared dialogue. Founded on the belief that art should exist beyond structured divisions, Black Cube creates a space where different artistic languages interact, where tradition and experimentation coexist, and where critical discourse is extended to all artists, not just the historically recognized.
The gallery remains committed to fostering meaningful engagement with contemporary art, offering exhibitions that challenge, provoke, and expand the way we experience visual culture. At its core, Black Cube is more than a gallery—it is a space of exchange, experimentation, and new possibilities for artistic thought and presentation.
