The Open Studio / Esha Paul
Esha Paul
Paradise of nothingness
A party hat that has forgotten how to say happy
A paper hat leans in the dark, purple as a bruise.
The word on it has lost its first letter.
Below, a mound of torn fringe: lemon, rose, leaf green, deep blue.
Every strip catches the light and holds it too tightly.
The ground behind is green-black, brushed like wet grass at night.
The party is loud in colour and silent everywhere else.
The work
Esha Paul, from Alipurduar, paints a purple party hat. Silver letters on it read APPY, with small stars around them. The hat sits on a heap of crumpled, fringed shapes in yellow, pink, green, red and blue. A dark green ground surrounds them. Paul grew up among mass-produced plastic goods. She uses acrylic on purpose, as "a plasticbased medium". For her, bright colour is "a sensory trap" that echoes the "fake happiness" of social media. Her college is the Sarojini Naidu School of Arts and Communication, University of Hyderabad.
In the artist’s words
“Colour, in my work, acts as a sensory trap. The vivid pinks, electric blues and neon yellows mirror the 'fake happiness' of social media and consumer culture. They offer an initial seduction that, upon closer inspection, gives way to unease. As a plastic-based medium, acrylic lets the material itself take part in the story of artificiality.”
- Theme
- Manufactured happiness
- Material
- Acrylic on canvas
- Size
- 183 × 122 cm
- Year
- 2025
- Edition
- 1
- Framed
- Yes
- About the artist
- Sarojini Naidu School of Arts and Communication, University of Hyderabad
- From
- Alipurduar
- Code
- RC-410
