Image courtesy of Komal Lad

Interview: Komal Lad

Luca Curci talks with artist Komal Lad during LIQUID ROOMS + THE LABYRINTH exhibition in Venice.

Komal Lad is a British contemporary artist who also works in art education. He received a first class Bachelors Degree at the University of Huddersfield, UK in 2010. His  practice explores a range of media from; sculpture, photogra-phy, performance, drawing and painting. Each medium provides a tool to explore the journey of the human ex-perience to capture, to imagine and forge a world of endless possibilities. His work and practice as an artist is to transport the viewer into a world, a narrative, an emotion that triggers a sense of belonging and nostalgia. He says: “The act of making art is like magic, a concept materialised in some form that allows the imagination to become tan-gible.”

Image courtesy of Komal Lad

Luca Curci – Can you talk about your personal experience in Venice with International ArtExpo?

Komal Lad – This exhibition has given me the opportunity to showcase my work to a greater audience. This for me was important as the piece that I conducted I felt at the time had such a profound impact on those who took part and experienced the work. It really took them out of their norm and immerse themselves within the work (for some quite literally). The video I presented  of this performance provided a document  of the event providing  a platform for others to view and question its purpose. The context of the work has changed as it is now being viewed as a video however I feel the video of the piece highlights a real sense of how something so unconventional, in the way the participants are engaging with a space becomes an accepted norm, as they truly immerse themselves  into the experience provided.

Image courtesy of Komal Lad

L. C. – Can you talk about the artwork you presented in Venice? How is it linked with the festival’s theme?

K. L. – The work investigates the relationship of the narrative between architecture and artistic interpretation and how they collude in the composition of a performative piece. This piece explores the possibilities of illusory realities and alternative universes in which rules are subverted and unconventional strategies apply. As you watch the performance piece you see a shift of people moving in and out of a space and as they enter the room they become apart of the present reality created. The viewer takes part and becomes apart of this community of people being merged into the space through this process of taping.

Image courtesy of Komal Lad

L. C. – What are you currently working on?

K. L. – Currently I am working on following on from this piece of  work looking at how we all leave a sense of ourselves, an essence a presence when we engage within a space. When I conducted this performance piece  you can see throughout the taping process of people going up and coming down and the mark of them left, their body outlines on the walls remain as a impression a mark of their presence. I am interested in the trail we leave mapping our memories in the universe, and how this sense of presence affects those people entering a space for the first time.

Image courtesy of Komal Lad

L. C. – What is art for you?

K. L. – Art is a constant carousel of ideas. It is about life their is no stop no pause we just keep moving. Art reflects on the world we live in and our place in it.    

Image courtesy of Komal Lad

L. C. – What do you think about International ArtExpo organization?

K. L. – The international ArtExpo organization is a fantastic opportunity for artist from a round the world to respond and see the multitude of responses to a given theme or concept. The International ArtExpo really highlights how art is about personal experience and how theses experiences shape our world and the art we make in it.  

Image courtesy of Komal Lad

L. C. – Do you think International ArtExpo organization can represent an opportunity for artists?

K. L. – The International ArtExpo provides a platform for arts to reach a wider audience with their work and hopefully gain greater feedback and opportunity to explore their work further.