ATIKA ART SPACE: SEPTEMBER

As summer starts to wind down and London slips back into its September rhythm, we’re excited to welcome a new artist to ATIKA Art Space. Each month, we transform a little corner of our Brick Lane store into a space for creativity, giving one artist the chance to share their work with our community. This month, we’re proud to introduce Neeti Kumar, whose work brings a fresh perspective to the space. As the seasons change and the city comes back to life, there’s no better time to discover something new. So come by ATIKA, explore the exhibition, and keep reading to get to know the artist behind this month’s collection.

Neeti Kumar is a multidisciplinary artist and creative technologist based between Kolkata and London, creating process and experience driven artworks. Primarily drawing in pen and charcoal, she prefers keeping her work monotone and focused on form. With a background in AR / VR experience building, her work is increasingly about living in the physical world
and avoiding addictive technology, especially AI.

I: What is your current work about?

My work has always been more about the process than the end result. These drawings are no different - they're casually drawn and added to as I find moments through the day to take out my paper and pen. These moments of respite away from the noise and digital exhaustion of daily life are so important in helping feel human again. I suppose that's what my work is about - about being present and using drawing as a tool to pay attention to, and be in the physical world. It is an escape, but an escape into the physical world rather than out of it.

I: What feelings do you aim to evoke in viewers?

I'm not sure if this counts as a feeling exactly, but in the same way a memento mori is a reminder that we die, I want my work to be a reminder of one’s physical existence and of the world we live in… so perhaps the feeling of ‘memento carnis’.

I: Is there a specific detail you hope viewers spend time with?

There are a lot of little recognisable things they can find in the drawings - all these small parts that make up the overall abstract composition. In the same way that I discover them while viewing the world around me, and then proceed to draw them into the artwork, I want
the viewers to enjoy finding these ‘objects’ as they merge into one another. Beyond that, I’d hope they’d adopt this practice of looking for details into their own daily lives.

I: What does your creative process look like?

It's me with a pad of paper and my Fudenosuke pen from Tombow - usually on a park bench somewhere, or on a bus - looking around, finding something that feels exciting to draw, and then drawing it until it isn't exciting anymore, and then continuing onto the next exciting thing to draw. This process repeats itself until the piece is finished.

I: How do you decide when a piece is "finished"?

I know it's complete when I step back and look at it and I can't help but smile. It's when I'm no longer finding fault in it, or itching to add something here or there to create balance. That deep sensation of satisfaction and completeness that comes with finishing a piece - it's the best feeling.

Please make sure to catch Neeti’s art before October hits. For more information on how to get to the store, please click here.