The world simply does not need more self portraits from me, and yet I am compelled to make them. My solution is to recycle the paintings, to paint over them once they are finished. This all-paintings-on-a-single-canvas policy proves exceedingly economical and perhaps lessens my carbon footprint. (gautamrao.net)

Divya Mehra, originally from Winnipeg and a recent graduate of Columbia’s School of Arts, often takes the role of a harmless buffoon in her videos to “activate repressed impulses, disrupt convention, and explore power relations in terms of gender and sexuality, as well as racial and cultural identities.” The buffoonery is sometimes broadcast in the descriptions of her videos, such as the one for “Like You” — “In this video I perform a traditional dance of the North Indians to a song that was first sung by my ancestors.” On her site, short video clips from longer pieces include a split screen one with footage from “The Party” in which she reprises the role of the “silly but charming Hindu played originally by Peter Sellers.”

Among those works that I could get a sense of online (admittedly a limited group), the digital photo collage “Waking From Dreams of India” by Neil Chowdhury also stood out for me. After the artist’s father died, he grew up isolated from Indian culture in the U.S. fantasizing about India through media and other accounts, but has now visited several times and collected a wealth of imagery along the way as is evident from his multilayered collages. The pieces often juxtapose the India he imagined with the one he encountered.

If any of you have been to the exhibition, it would be great to hear your impressions.