Arundel Contemporary

We are pleased to present a two-person exhibition featuring the works of New York based artists Indrajeet Chandrachud and Patricia Volk FRSS from Bath, UK. This occasion marks the artists’ second exhibition with the gallery.

Indrajeet Chandrachud creates whimsical landscapes, filled with colour. Born from his desire to create happy, imaginary spaces, the paintings are quiet and meditative, in spite of being vibrant in nature. According to the artist, if upon viewing these paintings, the net takeaway is a warm, happy feeling, it’s a success.

Indrajeet is a New York City based artist and has exhibited his work in the US, Europe, and India. He is also a creative director in advertising and a surface pattern and textile designer.

Patricia Volk is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Sculptors, born in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, including at Buekenholf-Phoenix Gallery in Belgium, Chichester Cathedral and the Royal West of England Academy, also appearing in the collections of Swindon Museum & Art Gallery, Lord Carrington, Simon Relph CBE, the British Consul (Ivory Coast) and Mary Portas. She was Regional Winner of the ING “Discerning Eye” prize in 2007 and has been shortlisted for the prestigious Brian Mercer Residency. One of her pieces was also selected as a Southern Arts prize.

In 2017 Patricia was invited by the Trustees of the Designer Crafts Foundation to go to Israel in to be one of their guest sculptors. This involved attending & speaking at the symposium in Tel Hai, lecturing in Jerusalem at the Israel Museum and at the Bet Benyamini Centre in Tel Aviv.

In January 2019 she was commissioned by ITV as part of the prestigious ‘ITV Creates’ initiative, making her sculpture visible on screen to millions of television viewers.

“I deconstructed the logo into its constituent shapes. This led me down the path to exploring similar “knots” of individual ceramic pieces, the amalgamation of which, puzzle-like, would change dramatically as it is viewed through 360 degrees. This process of making necessitated me using clay in a different way, using a slab roller and building the construction from simple individual forms. The elements were fired separately, painted with acrylic, and arranged, each to support the other. (As the word ‘ceramics’ can be disadvantageous in the art world, I prefer the term used by Ken Price and other American sculptors: ‘painted fired clay’.) My practice has been concerned for some time with the juxtaposition of simple forms to evoke the contradictions of human  relationships – strong versus fragile, grounded versus light.

“I just put one colour against the other in a way that is satisfying or dynamic. It’s purely visual and non-intellectual. If there is a deeper meaning, I like to think that is brought by the viewer: I don’t like to limit their experience by giving a sculpture a set explanation or description, if I can help it – if I do, I keep it as loose as possible, just a hint or pointer. Sometimes (only sometimes!) I know what is going on in my head, but more often I let my hands do the ‘thinking’. That doesn’t mean it’s easy – far from it, because I take a very long time to consider the exact colours and weigh them up. Some might watch my activity and indecision and quite honestly think it’s the total obsessiveness of a mad person. But that’s okay! I’m an artist. And nobody said this was an exact science. It’s nothing if not completely subjective and completely immersive.”