Artist Abhidnya Ghuge views herself as a humble vessel of service, using art to foster positivity and connection, mirroring how she transforms the paper plates she works with.
The installation of Ghuge’s “The Nature of Becoming” took nine days, including two days of working with the community. The exhibition will open July 22 at the Ulrich Museum of Art on Wichita State’s campus.
She said she feels that the piece was created for the community, created by community members and is a physical manifestation of the act of coming together.
“What I love to do is site-specific installations, and the reason behind that is I would love to interact with people,” Ghuge said. “And the best way to do that for me is to invite them into one of my creations.”
Raised in Mumbai, India, to a Brahmin mother and an “untouchable” caste father, she grew up witnessing social and gender injustices. Living near a slum, she saw young girls and women take their lives as victims of caste, gender discrimination neglect. These early experiences shaped her lifelong inquiry into why female lives are often treated as disposable.
“So my question was always, ‘Why do they commit suicide?’ And then the next question was, ‘Why is it always a woman or a girl?’” Ghuge asked. “This disposal? Disposability of life was so common, death was so common and short.”
In between moving to a small townhouse with all boxes packed up, Ghuge was eating on a paper plate when she received a phone call about the death of a friend’s child in an accident.
“I was devastated because he was 14 and my son was about the same age at the time,” Ghuge said. “After the first anger subsided, I just felt like he was disposed, he’s just 14. Why did he have to die? I mean, he was such a great kid, and that disposable paper plate in front of me reminded me that I will be disposed (of) one day as well.”
At the same time, Ghuge was in her first semester at the University of Texas, studying toward a Master of Fine Arts. For a sculpture class assignment, while others used string, Ghuge asked to work with paper plates to contextualize the material.
Ghuge had her first art installation at the University of Texas in 2012. She also has a medical degree in dermatology from the University of Bombay.
Ghuge draws inspiration from artists like Christo and Tara Donovan.
“I love the way he (Christo) changes the ordinary into something completely new,” she said.
When an audience member asked what happens to the art after the installation, she said, “I make wall pieces out of them so that disposable paper plates are no longer disposable.”
They are now elevated to a piece that you can own and let go over in your house and enjoy,” Ghuge added. “So this piece (‘The Nature of Becoming’) is made of different paper plates from different installations.”
