Famous artist Hema Upadhyay was murdered on December 12, 2015. The artist and her lawyer's body was found wrapped in plastic and stuffed in cardboard boxes which were recovered near a drain in Mumbai's Kandivali suburb.
In an interview with Initiart magazine, Hema said, "I don’t see myself as an Indian artist. I really look at myself as an artist. I know there are certain elements that come from my Indian background. But I know that there are many more elements in the future that are not about India. For example, this chandelier (below) made of matches. I don’t think it has any cultural identity."
The following are a few things you should know about Hema:
- Hema Hirani was born in Baroda in 1972 and has a Master's degree in painting from MS University in Baroda. She received National Scholarship from the Ministry of Human Resources.
- Hema is the recipient of Gujarat Lalit Kala Academy and the National Lalit Kala Academy for her work in the 10th International Triennale-India hosted in New Delhi.
- Hema married painter Chintan Upadhyay and moved to Mumbai in 1998. Her first solo exhibition, titled 'Sweet Sweat Memories', was showcased at Chemould Prescott road in Mumbai in 2001.
- Hema and her husband Chintan collaborated for several exhibitions. They worked together for a show called 'Parthenogenesis' at the Ivan Dougherty Gallery on the campus of the Australian University of New South Wales.
- Her work The Nymph and the Adult which was made of over 2000 lifelike sculptures of cockroaches was one her most popular works. The work drew fascination as well as repulsion from her viewers. In the interview with Initiart magazine, explaining her art 'The Nymph and the Adult' she says, "We invented the medium to destroy ourselves, and at the end, cockroaches might be the only survivors as they have a much higher tolerance to radiation."
Image Courtesy: Wikipedia
- Another powerful work by Hema was Sweet-Sweat Memories, which was an artwork made of paper works on display. This art was reportedly inspired by the suicide of one of her neighbours that created much confusion and portrayed how in an urban sprawl 'dreams and aspirations are both excited and forcefully repressed'.
Image Courtesy: www.aaa.org.hk
In her recent works she has also touched upon the themes of migration and displacement in South Asia, in 'Killing Site'.
Image Courtesy: Wikipedia
Her other important solo presentations were- Underneath (2004), Yours Sincerely (2008-09), Where the Bees Suck, there suck I (2009), Modernization (2011), Princesses Rusted Belt (2011-12) and Mute Migration (2012).
Princesses Rusted Belt (2011-12). Image Courtesy: Wikipedia
Dream A Wish, Wish A Dream. Image Courtesy: Wikipedia
8' x 12', 2009, installation, Indian Highway. Image Courtesy: Wikipedia
Hema was estranged from her husband Chintan Upadhyay, also a painter, and the couple was locked in bitter divorce proceedings since 2010. The Baroda born artist had in 2013 filed a case against Chintan, alleging he painted obscene pictures of women on the walls of their matrimonial home in Mumbai to harass her. Her lawyer, Harish Bhambani had represented Hema in the case. The lawyer's body was found dead with Hema's in the drain.
