Dhiraj Pednekar
A Promised Land - I
2022

About the Item

Presently I am working on a series of charcoal drawings titled “A Promised Land” which is the result as well as a logical progression of my current engagement with art and ecology. The series drew inspiration from my reading of Pranay Lal’s Indica: A Deep Natural History of the Indian Subcontinent (2016). The book’s focus on sheer life force and exuberance stemming out of India’s natural history and the science behind life not only inspired me but also forced me to think deeply about the state of life on the planet. The title, therefore, is ironically suggestive of the way humankind is (mis)treating natural resources to fulfil its unbridled greed. The series across thirty or more drawings attempts to build an apocalyptic vision of life where the natural world and the animals who inhabit it bear the brunt of over-exploitation. The first out of the six drawings which are complete by now shows the dead root-like structure of a tree which looks fossilised and bears the expression of a dissatisfied creature which seems to be stranded on a lonely landscape. The second drawing is that of a neatly fleeced skeleton of a blue whale on a patch of land. The image brings to the forefront issues of poaching and illegal hunting of whales for commercial gains. The third drawing again deals with the same issue but this time the goriness of the misdeeds of humankind is in the shape of a decaying carcass of an elephant. It is half covered in decayed skin and half visible revealing the rib cage. The fourth drawing is a highly metaphorical one where a large pile of elephant tusks is seen neatly arranged and bears an uncanny resemblance with a human pyre. The fifth drawing is that of a synthetic net left on the landscape. The image is a telling account of the ill effects of fishing which results in bycatch thereby impacting the water beds. The ransacked oceanic and sea floors are often silent witnesses of the mechanised fishing enterprise. The sixth image projects a felled tree which in the most telling ways speaks a horizontal tale of commercial gains in the face of nature's right to itself. The dead tree seems to be slouching and moving to carry the remnants of its past green 'Self' in the greyness of its shadow which is symptomatic of imminent destruction if Nature is not nurtured well. The images, though do not show any human presence in them, yet the effects of human misadventure in nature cries loud and strongly.

Creator:

Dhiraj Pednekar (1990, Indian)

Creation Year:

2022

Dimensions:

Height: 20 in (50.8 cm)Width: 26 in (66.04 cm)

Medium:

Paper,Charcoal

Movement & Style:

Contemporary

Period:

2010-