Into the rabbit hole of bizarre: Tejal Patni exhibits Vichitra at Snowball Studios in Mumbai

“We only see what we look at. To look at is an act of choice,” says John Berger in his book the Ways of Seeing. And so, Vichitra, an immersive art exhibition by Tejal Patni becomes an oxymoron of the human psyche. Here surrealism meets reality checks. The bizarre coexists with the mundane. And human facades reveal vulnerabilities. Housed inside the Snowball Studios in Mumbai, the showcase teleports the senses to the eerie mystique of a certain construction site in Delhi, which also inspired Tejal, a photographer, film director and a graduate from Sir J.J. School of Art, to imagine a voyeuristic vision of and for the spectators.

A wide-eyed realism

Through the invisible threshold of the exhibition, viewers look at Tejal’s enigmatic world and see reflection of themselves in the vichitra-beings. Beautifully bizarre only begins to describe the sorcery that the hypnotising imageries evoke. But everywhere, everytime and all at once — the eyes follow the onlookers, who ironically are intruders, too. 

The exhibit blurs the lines between reality and bizarre and brings out the facets of the life we repress with an otherworldly exaggeration. Through his neo-whimsical style, Tejal establishes the calm eye of the surreal storm. Even though every part of the exhibit is surrealism taken above and beyond, it finds its way back to balance. There is a synchronization in the strange and the beauty, which makes the exhibition an appetizer for the intellect. 

At the onset, the guideline on the show’s bulletin note refrains guests from interacting with the real-time performing actors is but a mere suggestion. Just being at the exhibit, you become a part of Tejal’s plot of oddity. You are the prying neighbor in a chaotic neighbourhood.

The artistic brilliance of Tejal Patni has a lingering effect on the viewers. Vichitra imprints itself on the mind as indelibly as the Wonderland does on Alice, with each piece of art sparking a cascade of perceptions that echo beyond the exhibit’s walls. Through this unspoken dialogue, the exhibition draws you in through an unwavering gaze and an unapologetic commitment to absurdity. 

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