Ceekram Elundhuru ( சீக்கிரம் எழுந்திரு ) (Wake up early).
The title to my work and time at ISCP.

The night I was leaving to New York for the residency, I wondered - when was the last time I had given myself dedicated time to research and learn again.

My first week in New York was a mix of awe and displacement. The city is so diverse and intense. I stayed in Brooklyn but through every gallery I visited, in Manhattan or the next road, I explored a different side of NYC. The city also boasts of so many artists and galleries, hence so many points of view. Almost 10 years back, on the same roads of ISCP in Brooklyn, one of my artworks was reproduced on a wall. To be there after gaining years of experience was surreal.

Having been a muralist for the last decade, I was used to being on the streets and with the locals. Being in a closed studio space was a very interesting challenge. Like Mumbai, New York pushes you to dream and do bigger while also guiding you to explore the path you want to follow.

Being in the studio made me think about how to stretch my practice to this world and really came as a safe space of quiet and intensity for me to create bodies of work. We had an open studio the same month I arrived, which was a very good experience to extend my practice to the local people and fellow artists in-depth, and realise the importance of having such an international exchange of work.

The pace of the city is very similar to Mumbai, yet it was just going to begin seeing spurts of summer, and I was yearning for the sun. As the days passed, I got familiar with the city, the fellow artists at ISCP, the sun and all that this summer was going to be. I will always remember how the sky looked every day, and how much the locals enjoyed once the sun was out - truly memorable. I had come to ISCP to be grateful for the studio time, but I was offered much more than that - friends, experiences, galleries, mentorships, learning and unlearning.

I was not ready for the constant stimulation New York had to offer. The art fair week was intense, with the galleries and work from all over the world, but I spent every minute absorbing as much as I could, in chaos and in silence in and out of the studio space.

I discovered research writing, something that I have done very rarely over the course of my visual practice. Conversations made me question my views and outlook, and this reflected in my research of climate change and the self. To understand this core change or displacement of nature, I also thought about my own meaning of displacement and home. With everything I saw and read through – material from the Brooklyn library, the many talks at MoMA, shows I happened to see and the discussions with fellow artists - I started developing my research into a visual narrative course and starting building on these worlds.

I had immense support and conversations with Susan Hapgood, Executive Director, ISCP and Melinda Lang, Director of Programs and Exhibitions, ISCP, about the research material and its output. Susan, having spent time in Mumbai, was able to guide my study about my research of sub-topics of climate change in Mumbai perfectly. I also had varied and effective mentor sessions with TJ Smith, Anais Reyes and Anne-Laure Lemaitre, who brought their own really critical perspectives to make my research more effective and nuanced.

I developed deep friendships during the residency with some artists, including Sebastian, Adrianne, Ulises, Sinae, Adele and Guo, whose own practices and lived experiences really helped me experience NYC and my time at the residency to the fullest. Of these, Adrianne, an artist from Brazil, unknown to her, invoked a sense of critical thinking in my practice, as well as a deep friendship.

We spent hours exploring the city and speaking about the shared and personal cultures and histories, the political happenings in the world and how we see our work as reflection of that. Our Artist Monday clubs and the ISCP kitchen and common area also became a great space for discussions, where we came together to share food and our stories.

All these experiences culminated in my research at the studio. My ongoing research in India corresponded with my self series using a traditional art painting style but it always felt empty. The resources helped me develop writing as an initial step to visual narration, which then helped me articulate my research and its reasons.  I worked with found material, old-school audio video formats and textile to explore how layered sensorial experience would speak about what I wanted to convey. It also deepened my relationship with colour and storytelling.

I started working on my practice through a painting and a video/animation as a start to this narrative, and kept working on them over every changed thought, which I plan to develop further.

Although the residency gave me the research satisfaction, my real takeaways were my people and how we came together despite all our different backgrounds and life. Our conversations mattered the most to me, and seem to have made a significant shift in my work perspective, which will always be part of all my stories now.

I discovered the power of togetherness, sensitivity and love - a deep understanding which will always be a part of my work. The residency opportunity arrived at a crucial time in my practice, and I will always remember it as a stepping stone as I move forward.