Mumbai: 

Artist Prajakta Potnis. pics/anjana vaswani

In his best-selling book, Blink, which chronicles the power of instinct, Malcolm Gladwell explains that often, the most honest response to a question is, "I don't know". Gladwell theorises that the human instinct is subconsciously developed as a result of so many experiences that, in truth, the way we feel about situations, people or things can almost never be accurately defined at the spur of the moment.

When artist Prajakta Potnis hesitated to tell us what she hopes to convey through the series, she was experiencing a similar dilemma. Motivated by a curiosity generated by one of her previous works (where she had covered a wall with keyholes), she is unsure of whether her current series, depicting decay, is an expression of deep-seated personal anguish or a projection of the deterioration she sees in society, or both.

Pausing to examine her own soul, she finally reveals, "It's not just one thing," and citing examples of previous works as she delves into her own thought-process she adds, "It's an expression of everything that goes on… inside a body, inside your home, inside your city, the country..."

The damages:
The four paintings and various sculptures on display will be priced from Rs 1,75,000 onwards. When we met her, Prajakta wasn't sure whether the photographs that form the collage would be put on sale

Frustrated by barriers:
If you consider her previous works, such as a series that featured buildings that were labelled, "No Entry," and "Only for Jains," demonstrating the demarcation of communities in Mumbai, the artist seems to have multiple messages in her works. Her frustration with barriers, which she feels, "creates just an illusion of isolation" is evident as is her fascination for hidden, uncontrollable growths which can, and often do, go unchecked until it's too late".

The world is decaying:
For this series, Prajakta has used materials like plastic balls, mustard seeds and other everyday objects like medicine-bottles, wall-plugs, light bulbs, cooking utensils and shoes, to name a few. The final installations will have them positioned on a granite pedestal dented in such a way so as to suggest images from a household or a laboratory, or both which will stand on metal legs. 

The exhibition also includes four large paintings (30 by 40 inches each) in acrylic and dry-pasted on paper. These depict the fragility of walls. In two of them, walls take on a fabric-like softness and resemble curtains, while the rest depict damage and decay.

At: The Guild, Kamal Mansion, near Radio Club, Colaba till October 11. From 10 am to 6.30 pm, Monday to Saturday.
Call: 22876211