Sareena Khemka: Landscapes of loss and belonging IV, V, and VI

                            Landscape of loss and belonging IV

                            mixed media on paper

                            36.5" X 62"

                            2024

                                 Landscape of loss and belonging IV

                                 Landscape of loss and belonging IV

                            Landscape of loss and belonging IV

                                Landscape of loss and belonging IV

                                Landscape of loss and belonging IV

                               Landscape of loss and belonging IV

My hands recall  

       the surface,

 moving  

        over bumps,  

      crevices, 

cracks,  

         and bubbles;  

     as each contour crumbles  

         under my touch.  

 

      An abstract map of  

            Abandoned landforms,  

 

        The walls swell,  

          and expand,  

   effervescent with salt—  

        white crystals  

     falling softly,  

        suddenly,  

 

         a swishhh —  

 

   that echoes through  

         empty rooms.  

 

       My house absorbs  

         the scars  

         of lived memories  

        etched deep—  

               fading; 

     I trace the walls,  

      grasping 

at its  

evaporating skin—  

 

    And I wonder,  

     when it all  

         dissolves into  

                nothingness—  

 

   what remains ?

          for me  

                to hold ?

 

-Sareena Khemka

                                Landscape of loss and belonging V

                                mixed media on paper

                                25" X 55"

                                2024

                              Landscape of loss and belonging V (detail)

                             Landscape of loss and belonging V (detail)

Landscape of loss and belonging V (detail)

                              Landscape of loss and belonging V (detail)

Landscape of loss and belonging V (detail)

Landscape of loss and belonging V (detail)

                             Landscape of loss and belonging V (detail)

                            Landscape of loss and belonging VI

                            mixed media on paper

                            75.5" x 37" 

                            2024

                               Landscape of loss and belonging VI (detail)

                               Landscape of loss and belonging VI (detail)

                               Landscape of loss and belonging VI (detail)

                                Landscape of loss and belonging VI (detail)

                               Landscape of loss and belonging VI (detail)

Sareena Khemka, 1983. Kolkata 

Sareena Khemka’s current practice explores urban spaces through the contrasting themes of construction and destruction, as well as preservation and regeneration, within manufactured and organic environments. Working across multiple mediums—drawing, painting, and sculptural installations—she examines the permanence and transience of urban landscapes through material interventions and the ephemeral memories associated with space.

In her series Landscape of Loss and Belonging, the artist delves into the impermanence of familiar places by capturing the deteriorating surfaces of her ancestral home. Through graphite rubbings and organic drawings of decay, her works evoke the pathos of modern landscapes in ruins. Each work forms a fragile yet resilient layer, reminiscent of preserved skin, embodying the tactile experience of touching these crumbling structures. 

As her house faces imminent demolition, these drawings become fragments of a broader, lifelong project—one that will gradually reveal deeply personal memories both tangible and intangible.