#induharikumar

[kunsthallebremen]

8 Questions to the Artist Indu Harikumar

Indu Harikumar (* 1979 in Mumbai) is an Indian artist who lives and works in her home state Mumbai. She studied fashion and history and has illustrated over seven books for children. In year 2016 she has spent eight months curating and drawing stories for her project “#100IndianTinderTales” which reflects personal experiences around sex and dating in India. In the interview she gives us an insight into her work, her different interests and her relationship to materials.

1. What did you do before you became an artist? I studied fashion and history and worked on the web for about seven and half years. One of my jobs was with a children’s magazine that was 60 years old and was going online. Here I had access to their beautiful archives and this is where I started drawing again. This lead me to work in children’s publishing and working with children. My first experience of working with children was on a construction site teaching children through art and since we didn’t have any funds, I picked up leaves, seedpods, bottle caps, fabric scarps, old newspapers to create art and craft project with the children. I think this challenge really fed my brain and I still enjoy working with whatever is available and I have seen that materials lead me. 

2. When and why did you decide to dedicate your life to art? Most of my life I didn’t know what  I wanted to do, I thought I will write a little and draw a little as I didn’t think I was very good at either. This lead me to my first children’s book and  working with children and then I feel it sucked  me in and now I don’t think I spend any day without drawing or creating. It has become a part of who I am.

3. Which artist or aesthetic movement have influenced you and in what way? If there is one love I have always had, it has to be Gustav Klimt, I have admired him on the internet from the time I was 17 and finally got to see a lot of him when I was 35 in Vienna. I also love ornate Jugenstil. But more than masters, I am inspired by life and everyday life. In my country, you find art everywhere especially in the way people dress, in how they embroider, how they weave clothes, how they dress their gods, live, in nature, traditions, oh I could go on and on. I also find a lot of inspiration online but I’d say I am inspired by people.

4. With whom would you like to work together? Where would you like to exhibit? I see myself doing more and more work telling people’s stories through my illustrations.  I have wanted to document people’s regrets and turn it into art. Also, I’d like to crowdsource a project on peoples sex live, covering various aspects of desire and sexual health, I am hoping to do this in India soon and it has been a dream to exhibit in all the sex museums in the world. I also have had this dream of doing a peace project, documenting what home means to various people.  

5. Which material fascinated you and why? I LOVE FABRICS, it also calms me down. I come from a country which has a long history and thriving tradition of beautiful handwoven fabrics. There are sarees that come with stories woven into it. Every part of India have their own traditional fabrics and embroidery, I am very inspired by fabric and use a lot of scraps of fabrics in my work. The fabrics I use usually come from tailoring shops and is usually waste. I love bright colors, prints and the texture they provide and I see new patterns forming in my head when I see fabrics. I use a lot of embroidery and scraps of fabrics in my work. I basically use whatever is available so the pressure to create great art is very little.  

6. What do you need to be happy? Sunshine for sure, a lot of space, love (family, friends and lovers) that lets me be, good food,  spaces where I can be myself, where I can express myself, work that pays, respect, I’d say my work makes me immensely happy and so does working with children.

7. Which book are you reading currently? I am reading “Self Compassion” by Kristin Neff. I always go and re-read “Letters to a young poet” by Rainer Maria Rilke, it is my bible and I also read poems by Persian poet, Hafiz, on most mornings.

8. Is there a question you keep asking yourself? Why is it so hot!

Thank you for the interview!

The exhibition “What is Love? From Amor to Tinder” (7 July to 21 October 2018) presents around 60 works from various eras. From the collection of the Kunsthalle Bremen there are about 40 works on display which focus on earthly love, lovers from mythology, narcissism, eroticism and the idealization of beauty. The selection is complemented by five works by contemporary artists who explore the phenomenon of online dating.

Images:

1.) Portrait Indu Harikumar

2.) Indu Harikumar, Love is Love is Love aus der Serie 100 Indian Tinder Tales, 2016 © Indu Harikumar

3.) Installationview “What is Love?”, left: Christiaen van Couwenbergh, A Couple, 1632, Oil on canvas, Kunsthalle Bremen - Der Kunstverein in Bremen, right: illustrations by Indu Harikumar and their stories, photo: Melanka Helms