Sojourn in the wilderness

At the Mumbai Art Fair, artist Aditi Singh’s towering charcoal and graphite drawings hold their own with a quiet, unshakeable presence. Titled ‘A Blade of light between our shadows,’ and ‘Somethings Are Always Burning,’ they seem to pulse with life, their name evoking both the slow passage of time and the raw energy of nature’s rhythms.

These works don’t just sit still but hum with the tension of change. Each stroke, each shadow, seems to carry the weight of moments slipping away, while every erasure leaves behind a trace of transformation. Aditi’s art, while depicting nature, also draws you into its heartbeat, its endless cycle of burning, healing, and renewal.

“When you look at my work, you’re not just seeing bark and leaves. You’re feeling the wind that brushes your face, that fleeting sensation — intangible yet so utterly real,” Aditi tells us about her work.

Her process is poetry in motion. Each mark, each streak, and each deliberate erasure builds a narrative as textured as the stones she loves to study. “I’m drawn to objects that have been weathered — eroded stones, forms reshaped by time. Charcoal has that same rawness, that same honesty. It feels alive in my hands like I’m collaborating with it rather than just wielding it.”

The artist has walked through countless forests, across continents, taking in the wild as her muse. “Nature is magnificent because it doesn’t care about us. It’s indifferent, and that’s its beauty — it thrives without our intervention. The Gulmohar trees, the shapes of northern hemisphere flora — they all speak to me.”

Her journey into art wasn’t a detour but a destiny. Aditi recalls a transformative mentor Lynette Lombard in Chicago who rewired her understanding of creativity. “She connected all my interests in various disciplines: Poetry, philosophy, history, literature. That’s when it hit me: This is how I’m meant to live. This feeling of being deeply connected and engaged is a life’s practice.”

We ask her verdict on the moment Indian art is having. “We’re thriving. Post-structuralism is where we are, and Indian artists, myself included, are showing internationally. The world is finally paying attention,” Aditi shares.

But Aditi’s works aren’t loud proclamations. The pieces are not just a philosophy. They’re about paying attention, about deep, concentrated awareness. Nature’s rhythms are subtle but deep, and if you listen closely, they’re always speaking. Aditi’s work travels next to Delhi at Vadhera Gallery from November 21 to January 10 and South Asian Contemporary, Amsterdam, in March 2025.