Across the stages of migration, I have confronted levels of emotional and social complexities. The farther I am from my roots, the more I want to strengthen my connection to India. Through a process of observation and reflection on every day, grows the desire to house a cultural identity within my work. My work is an assemblage where past, present, and future layer atop history and memories.
To reclaim the kindred character of the craft culture of my country, I seek to rediscover those values that resonate with me through re-contextualized forms. Clay acts as my drawing tool to outline social structures, psychology, traditions, and a sense of nostalgia. I embrace and harness the purity within the moments of destruction that come easy while working with clay. The brokenness and nothingness of such fragments forms the backdrop of my poetic observations as they rescale their presence as relief in my work.
I use the forgotten vessels and forms as a canvas to project my observations gleaned from a fast and changing world. I populate the core form with surface additions, to create an overwhelming visual impression that captures the systematic chaos of the urban.
Bio
Kopal Seth was born in a rural town of India, Khurai. Seth’s work tours through her memories of growing up in a unique culture while moving away from home for better opportunities.
She earned her BFA in painting with a minor in ceramics at the The Faculty of Fine Arts, Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, Vadodara, India (2018). She is a recent graduate from the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), where she earned her MFA in ceramics (2020). Seth has shown at various exhibitions in India and the U.S., amongst which are shows at The Gelmen Gallery-RISD Museum, The Lacoste/Keane Gallery, Concord, MA, and Art Centrix Space in New Delhi.
