The Open Studio / Esha Paul
Esha Paul
Loved noses
Two plastic bodies, joined at the nose, sharing one breath
Two bodies of coloured plastic stand shoulder to shoulder.
One green as a sweet wrapper, one red as a warning light.
Their noses stretch and meet in a soft bridge of air.
Inside each skin a small face watches, drawn in pale lines.
Above them, grey bubbles drift in the dark like old coins.
It looks like a kiss. It also looks like no one can breathe.
The work
Esha Paul paints two figures that look like inflatable toys. One is bright green and one is red. Their long noses reach out and meet like a soft tube. Small faces and dotted patterns sit inside their shiny skins. Paul grew up around cheap plastic goods. Her practice looks at what she calls the "Plastocene", a time when the natural and the synthetic mix. She chooses acrylic paint on purpose because it is made from plastic. At 183 × 122 cm, the toys become large and strange.
In the artist’s words
“I grew up among mass-produced plastic goods. I recontextualise inexpensive toys and inflatable forms as sites of psychological reflection. Colour acts as a sensory trap. It offers a seduction that, on closer inspection, gives way to unease. My use of acrylic paint is a conceptual choice. As a plastic-based medium, it lets the material participate in the narrative of artificiality.”
- Theme
- Plastic, desire and identity
- Material
- Acrylic on canvas
- Size
- 183 × 122 cm
- Year
- 2026
- Edition
- 1
- Framed
- Yes
- About the artist
- Sarojini Naidu School of Arts and Communication, University of Hyderabad
- From
- Alipurduar
- Code
- RC-409
