The Open Studio / Vatsal Tiwari
Vatsal Tiwari
Doorstep
Bodies pile like stones while the grass keeps growing
Blue-green backs, rough as river rock.
A rust sky presses down on them.
No faces. Only shoulders, knees, a heel.
One hand reaches out at the edge, fingers open.
Under them the grass is flat but not finished.
Someone has crossed this threshold many times.
The work
In Doorstep, bodies fold into each other across a long sheet of paper. Vatsal Tiwari works in Delhi and comes from the College of Art New Delhi. He builds the surface in layers of mixed media until skin looks like moss or old stone. Faces stay hidden. Hands and feet turn into roots. Grass grows under the figures. For Tiwari, grass is something people step on that still keeps growing. The work dates from 2025.
In the artist’s words
“Grass is a recurring metaphor in my work. Often overlooked, stepped upon, crushed and disturbed, it continues to grow quietly. Its persistence reflects forms of existence that endure without demanding recognition. For me, grass carries memory like the body. It bears traces of what has passed over it while it continues to live in the present.”
- Theme
- Endurance and the body
- Material
- Mixed media on paper
- Size
- 92 × 60 cm
- Year
- 2025
- Edition
- 1of 1
- Framed
- Yes
- About the artist
- College of Art New Delhi
- From
- Delhi
- Code
- RC-373
