The Open Studio / Hardik
Hardik
Toys and Desire III
A toy car waits in the middle of a grown-up room
Grey settles into every square of the floor.
A small car carries shirts like passengers.
Two shoes face away from the bed.
The boy holds something thin and dark and watches.
A cat stands up as if it heard its name.
The ink pools where the light will not go.
White paper waits on every side, holding the room in its sharp shape.
The work
Toys and Desire III is an etching and aquatint on paper from 2025. It measures 33 × 50 cm. The image has an uneven outline with sharp corners. Inside it, a tiled floor runs back to a shuttered door. Two adults sit on a bed. A boy sits on the floor and a cat rises on its back legs near the door. In the centre is a toy car under a pile of clothes. Hardik, from the College of Art in New Delhi, says printmaking asks for patience and repeated decisions.
In the artist’s words
“My work explores sexuality, hidden desire, vulnerability and the tension between what is expressed and what remains unspoken. I am interested in how desire exists beneath the surface of everyday life, often shaped by memories and emotions that are difficult to confront. I often question how much I should reveal and how much I should leave open to interpretation.”
- Theme
- Hidden desire and childhood
- Material
- Etching and aquatint on paper
- Size
- 33 × 50 cm
- Year
- 2025
- Edition
- 5
- Framed
- Yes
- About the artist
- College of art, New Delhi
- From
- New Delhi
- Code
- RC-289
