On the eve of an exciting new exhibition in Glynn Vivian gallery’s revamped exhibition space, Polina Zelmanova talks to Indian artist and previous Artes Mundi winner NS Harsha about his latest exhibition.
Your work draws inspiration from both Indian and Western traditions. Can you talk a little bit about one of each that you found is most valuable to your practice?
Arts from different parts of this planet have been linked long before humans began to conceive of west and east. Having said that, I have always been interested in the ‘panoramic gaze’ in eastern painting traditions in which a whole painting (canvas) is in focus. In contrast to this, ‘blurring’ the background is primarily used as a painterly device in traditional western art. So both have their merits for today’s painters.
‘Arte Povera’ [an Italian art movement in the 60s, which literally means ‘Poor Art’, that called for a return to simple objects and messages] has been one of the most interesting art movements for my personal artistic journey. Though my practice is figurative, it is fundamentally driven by abstract and conceptual spirits.
A lot of your work seems to be created on a large scale – what is it that attracts you to working with large sizes?
I follow artistic necessity when it comes to size. It could be a simple pencil drawing or it could be a piece on a mountain. Sometimes exhibition space and contemporary events also influence the scale of my work. For me, the most interesting aspect of ‘scale’ is its ‘poetics’, because the poetic experience of a piece is beyond scale.
Much of our everyday life is driven and dominated by an industrial scale. So retaining a human scale and keeping scale as an active element is very important in my practice.
The exhibition as well as your practice in general is very varied in terms of materials, ranging from painting to carving. What is your favourite material that you have worked with for this exhibition?
My favourite material is paint. In most of my works, other materials interact with paint.
In this show I am experimenting with the idea of a structure to contain my works. I am showing photography, painting, found objects and sculptures within one base structure. This structure could become a piece on its own. So I would say in this show the key thing is to bring all the different materials into one fold and make them relevant to each other.
The newest installation, ᖷacing, seems to draw parallels between the local economies of Swansea and Mysore – what was the most significant similarity for you that really emphasises the aspect of globality?
ᖷacing is the title of the structure I describe above. This structure is made from industrial shop fittings. While I was walking around Swansea I found some closed-down shops where some of these shop fittings were left behind. I found them interesting… so started doodling and making drawings of them… the results of which you will experience in the show.
In this show, I don’t intend to draw parallels between Mysore and Swansea. These are two different cities. At present Mysore is growing with a lot of hope for a certain type of economic future. For some reason I feel Swansea may have already experienced that particular future. I’m not sure exactly how to phrase this… but certainly globalism is playing a major role in both cities.

When you first did the Future project, did you find that there was a significant effect on the children and what are your thoughts on their ‘future’ – how did you feel about it?
Future was first conceived for a small elementary school in Taipei. Many parents from this school were industrial workers in textile industries. In this piece, although children are the key focus, it also involves everyone around them participating in an imaginative exercise, as if they are ‘growing to become what one imagines for oneself’. Once these shirts are brought into children’s homes they represent the future that is waiting to happen. So they are ‘living art objects’!
This work has been staged in several countries now. The most interesting aspect is its association with an individual’s idea of their future self. That’s what I am interested in as well…
Do you think you will see different results when you repeat the project in Wales?
The result of this project is hidden in the ‘future’ of Swansea’s kids. So we all have to wait to see the ‘results’ of this project. But we certainly can ‘experience’ this project without the burden of ‘results’ when it happens in the coming days.
ᖷacing, Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Alexandra Road, Swansea, Sat 7 July-Sun 9 Sept. Admission: free.
Info: 01792 516900 / www.glynnviviangallery.org