Kalpana Shah On Creativity, Reinvention & Finding Peace In The Process

What does it mean to call a place home? Is it the architecture, the familiarity of its walls, or the memories we leave behind in its rooms? For artist Kalpana Shah, home is less a physical structure than an emotional landscape that lives on within us long after we leave.

Her latest exhibition, The Shapes of Elsewhere, at Tao Art Gallery in Mumbai, explores this very idea. Curated by Arnaud Morand, the exhibition brings together three chapters of Shah’s artistic practice, moving from figurative architecture and landscapes towards abstraction and installation. The progression is less a linear account of an artist moving away from representation than an exploration of how painting can evolve into something more immersive.

Shah explains that the COVID-19 pandemic was the starting point, when being confined to our homes forced many of us to reconsider our relationship with familiar spaces. “There was a profound silence across the world, and it made me reflect on the importance of our own spaces,” she says. During this period, she began creating works around the idea of a home with a golden roof, considering how a home offers more than physical shelter. It can be a source of peace, contentment and emotional grounding.

Inspired by Gaston Bachelard’s The Poetics of Space, the exhibition considers how memory and imagination transform our understanding of the places we inhabit. “Through this exhibition, I wanted to explore how places continue to live within us, through our memories and imagination, even when we are physically distant from them,” Shah says.

This idea is clearest in her home series, a body of work she developed over several years before finding the right context to present it. Shah credits Morand with bringing these works together in a way that allows viewers to trace their evolution, from recognisable structures to more abstract interpretations of space. For her, this journey has expanded not only the possibilities of painting, but also the possibilities of dreaming and translating an idea into reality.

Finding A Language Of Her Own

Born in Mumbai, Shah describes her journey into art as something that began long before it became a profession. As a child, she was drawn to painting, drawing and making things, gravitating towards quieter, more creative pursuits. Her professional practice began to gain recognition in 2008, when she developed her signature knife-work technique with acrylic on canvas.

However, finding that visual language was not immediate. “When I was still trying to find a definite language through which to express myself, I often felt clueless,” she recalls. Once she discovered her distinctive technique, it opened up new possibilities for expression.

Her work is characterised by repeated gestures and layers of marks, a process that demands patience and concentration. Shah describes it as meditative, crediting her own temperament with helping her settle into a practice that can keep her absorbed in the studio for hours.

And how does she know when a painting is finished? Her answer is refreshingly uncomplicated. “For me, a work is complete when the artist puts the brush aside. In my case, it is when I put my knife aside.” There comes a point, she explains, when she feels she has said what she wanted to say and no longer wishes to add anything to the canvas.

Over the years, her practice has expanded beyond painting into large-scale installations, including works made with metallic plates and intricate beadwork. Yet her evolution has not happened in isolation. Alongside being an artist, Shah is a collector and the founder of Tao Art Gallery, which she established in 2000. Her experiences across these roles have informed one another, giving her a wider understanding of how art is made, exhibited and collected.

“Running Tao Art Gallery and interacting with artists, curators and collectors over the years has helped me become more refined and professional in my own practice,” she says. She also believes that appreciating the work of others is essential to artistic growth. Being invested in one's own practice should not come at the expense of curiosity about what other artists are creating.

A Changing Indian Art Landscape

When Shah founded Tao Art Gallery, awareness of contemporary art, galleries and collecting was considerably more limited. She remembers a period before the 2008 financial crisis when art was a constant topic of conversation, with people frequently asking her what they should buy. The subsequent economic downturn brought a withdrawal of interest and forced several galleries to shut down.

The landscape has changed considerably since then. Shah believes younger collectors are increasingly informed about what they acquire and why, while artists have access to wider platforms, more opportunities and a greater range of mediums through which to experiment.

“I feel that the Indian art market has evolved considerably and is standing on much stronger ground today,” she says. She is particularly encouraged by the younger generation's willingness to explore new directions and engage with a more international art landscape.

But for Shah, the exchange between generations remains important. She recalls seeing artist Ranbir Kaleka's work for the first time in New York and being struck by its inventiveness. She initially assumed he must be a very young artist, only to discover that he belonged to an older generation.

The experience reinforced her belief that creativity cannot be neatly divided by age. While younger artists can learn discipline and focus from those who came before them, established artists can equally benefit from the energy and willingness to experiment that younger practitioners bring. “What matters is that artists remain open to learning from one another,” she says.

When it comes to gender in the art world, Shah offers a perspective that places greater emphasis on geography and access than on differences in recognition between men and women. She believes women artists in India are increasingly recognised and given opportunities to exhibit their work, while acknowledging that artists based in smaller towns and villages can struggle to access galleries, collectors and the infrastructure needed to build a professional practice.

For women outside major cities, these barriers can be compounded by other responsibilities. Shah believes talent exists everywhere, but opportunities to develop and showcase it remain unevenly distributed. Her emphasis, therefore, is on creating platforms that allow artists from different backgrounds to participate in the wider art ecosystem.

Where Art Meets Artificial Intelligence

As AI-generated imagery becomes increasingly prevalent, questions around originality, authorship and artistic labour have become harder to ignore. For Shah, however, the conversation is not simply about choosing between traditional and digital art.

She recalls encountering an early computer-generated work by Kaleka featuring a man walking across three large panels. The experience made her reconsider the idea that art must necessarily involve paint, canvas or traditional sculpting tools. What matters, she believes, is the idea an artist wants to communicate and the medium best suited to expressing it.

That does not mean she sees physical art as replaceable. Reflecting on the possibility of owning a Van Gogh, Shah points to the significance of knowing that the artist physically touched the canvas and applied each brushstroke. The connection between the artist, the material and the finished work gives an original a quality that cannot be replicated.

“I don't believe we should dismiss new technologies simply because they are different from traditional methods,” she says. Although she does not currently use AI in her own practice, she would consider it if a future project required technology capable of realising an ambitious, imaginative vision.

Her caveat is originality. While she welcomes experimentation, she draws a distinction between using technology to realise an idea and copying another artist's work or presenting borrowed elements as one's own. “Originality and artistic integrity remain important, regardless of the tools being used,” she says.

For Shah, the question is not whether technology will replace traditional art, but whether artists can find meaningful ways to work with the mediums available to them. There is room, she believes, for a painting made through hours of patient gestures and for a technology-driven work that offers an entirely different kind of experience.

Making Space For The Next Generation

Despite founding Tao Art Gallery and building her own artistic practice, Shah says she has consistently prioritised the work of other artists. She sees the gallery as a platform for supporting their practices rather than advancing her own, a commitment that has shaped her relationship with the space over the years.

The Shapes of Elsewhere marks her return to Mumbai with an exhibition after 11 years, although she has continued to show her work elsewhere during that time. She has deliberately stepped back from exhibiting at her own gallery to make room for other artists, a principle she hopes will continue under her daughter's leadership of Tao.

For emerging artists trying to establish themselves today, her advice is to find a voice that is distinctly their own. Social media, she acknowledges, has made it easier for artists to reach audiences beyond their immediate circles. She experienced this herself after being encouraged to join Instagram, a platform she initially knew little about.

But visibility comes with its own pressures, and Shah cautions young artists against allowing online comments or external opinions to dictate their practice. The more important task, she believes, is to remain dedicated to the work itself.

“When I am in my studio, I disconnect from the outside world completely,” she says. While she remains aware of the conflicts and turmoil unfolding around her, her own paintings are concerned with peace and prosperity. Entering the studio allows her to protect that intention and concentrate on what she wants her art to express.

It is a fitting philosophy for an exhibition preoccupied with the spaces we carry within us. In The Shapes of Elsewhere, home is not simply a place to return to, but an idea that can be revisited, reimagined and transformed. And for Shah, the same holds true of art itself: its possibilities remain open as long as the artist continues to dream, experiment and find new ways to give those dreams form.

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