Martand Khosla’s basement studio is strewn with bits and pieces of his beloved city, New Delhi, including drawings, paintings and the artist’s iconic wooden sculptures composed of topsy-turvy miniature furniture, doors and staircases. The space is his laboratory, where there are no limits to what a city or a building can be. “I am talking about the city in turmoil… about how it is collapsing and reemerging and altering itself,” he shares.
For Khosla, the tactile process of working with his hands is as important as the finished sculpture. “It’s very analogue for me,” he tells us about his process that brings age-old architectural techniques, be it Japanese wood carving or welding, into the futuristic art practice. A look at any work by the artist reveals this interest in the very materials used, mud, brick dust, concrete, wood and metal.
In this BMW Artist Film, he tells us about the power of reimagining what is most familiar to us, and how art helps him transport himself to this strange and beautiful other-world.
Born in 1975, Martand Khosla currently lives and works in New Delhi. His work will be presented by Nature Morte at India Art Fair 2023.