Her home, perched on the edge of Mumbai’s Sanjay Gandhi National Park, acts as both a sanctuary and a site of experimentation. “I like to move things around the house constantly; it makes the space feel new,” she reflects, tracing this impulse back to her childhood in a one-bedroom home in Mumbai, where the simple act of rearranging furniture offered her a sense of autonomy within confinement. ‘Toys help greatly to think outside the box, you will find little things everywhere’ says a smiling Teja Gavankar, playing with a wire mandala toy, showing us all the possible ways it can be maneuvered and recollecting the young boy who sold it to her with an elaborate demonstration that was rendered in song.
In this BMW Artist Film, Gavankar invites us to witness how her spatial interventions unlock the extraordinary in the everyday. Her artistic journey reveals a deep-seated fascination with the interplay of space and perception. Her process is playful and inventive reflected by her studio which is adorned with small, curious objects.
While in college at Baroda, she expanded these curiosity outward, transforming it into subtle architectural gestures. Gavankar’s early explorations began with extending the corner of a bricked wall, creating interventions so discreet that they demanded attentiveness to be noticed. “If you miss it, you miss it, but if you find it, then there’s a moment of wonder,” she says, capturing her philosophy of cultivating awe within the unnoticed.
Gavankar’s work embodies a tactile relationship with the spaces she inhabits, and works with quiet intimacy, turning the familiar into sites of introspection. Her practice is rooted in the materials and narratives of her immediate surroundings, subtly alters how we perceive and engage with the spaces we occupy.
Born in 1986 in Mumbai, Maharashtra, Teja Gavankar currently lives and works in Mumbai, India. Her work will be presented by Sakshi Gallery at India Art Fair 2025.