“To try things that my mind is telling me not to” says Viraj Khanna on being an artist in the era of urgency

The tingling rush of fragility. The flashes of familiarity. The constant urgency to overshare and over-feed morsels and moments of our lives to people, known and often times, unknown on social media. Habits that you think only live in hidden crevices of a day gone by, a memory forgotten — are brought to a material reality by Kolkata-based artist Viraj Khanna with his solo exhibition BRAINROT ongoing at Tao Art Gallery curated by Sanjana Shah.

The young artist who is instinctively drawn to being experimentally audacious tells me that before art consumed his moodboard, he’d also juggle with finance, a metier he parallely pursues at his family business with his mother-fashion designer Anamika Khanna. When focusing on art, he finds voice through various material styles like textile embroidery, fabric collage and fibreglass sculptures to create a realistic and equally satirical world of his innermost commentary on behavioural patterns around us. Also a part of Mumbai Gallery Weekend that concluded recently, visiting BRAINROT was almost like being mirrored on Viraj’s canvas, overjoyed with what honest vulnerability could look like. ELLE DECOR India speaks with Viraj Khanna on being an artist in the era of digital urgency, excerpts below…

1. Do you often think about who you create art for. How do you plan to break through the Indian art market in 2025?

For my recent exhibition, I portrayed different ways in which I navigate social media. I was extremely vulnerable and it was difficult to speak so openly about things. But that is what people related to the most with BRAINROT. In the coming times this year, I am going to keep experimenting with embroidery. The possibilities with the medium are unlimited and I’ve been constantly experimenting with it 

2. Tell us an interesting anecdote from your process while working on an experimental artwork.

Initially when I was working with the artisans, they would be quite hesitant to do the kind of work I do. There was an episode where one artisan had taken my work to his hometown and then returned the following week to tell me that everyone in his village got scared and said they cannot do it.

The work I had given was a figure created using collage, so it was quite unrecognisable. So, due to superstitious reasons, they returned it because they got scared. They thought that the work I was making was literally of a ghost. I had to explain it to them that this wasn’t the case and then they finally understood and agreed.

3. What’s next on your art calendar and what are you experimenting with at the moment?

I will be showing my ‘Khakha’ paintings at India Art Fair 2025 with Kalakriti Art Gallery. This is really exciting because I have never shown these before! I am using the tracing paper or ‘khakha’ which is used in the embroidery process as a tool for my painting.

I am seeping paint through the needle holes created on the tracing paper.

4. What’s your most definite source of inspiration in your everyday routine? 

I am constantly thinking about what is happening around me and how I am responding to it. The embroidery that I constantly see in the form of clothing is a constant source of inspiration for me. Every time I see a new technique of embroidery on our outfits, I think about the different ways in which I could use it to tell my own stories. 

5. The best advice you’ve received so far is?

The best advice I’ve received is to literally try things that my mind is telling me not to. I’m currently doing my MFA at SAIC (The School of the Art Institute of Chicago). I’m graduating this year! The professors at SAIC always push me to create something that I haven’t done before. 

Now read: Designer Vaishali Shadangule and Alessandro Giuliani capture Indian weaves under the ocean