Through masks and memories, artist Anupama aka Anil’s solo show in Hyderabad tells a story of resilience

Artist Anupama, who goes by the name Anupama alias Anil as a tribute to her late husband and artist Anil Xavier, ushers in a new language of expression through her solo show A Room for Refuge at Kalakarti Art Gallery. The exhibition presents his mixed media works and assemblages, each of which has been shaped by personal experiences.

His mixed-media works are filled with masked self-portraits, set against abstract, layered landscapes that symbolically reflect the complexities of the mind – entwined with thoughts, memories, and lived moments.

recurring motif

Anupama Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Anupama often uses her face as a recurring motif, but her work also references the broader experience of womanhood. “I am part of it, but there are others too,” she says, offering herself as both subject and collective voice. This introspective journey began in 2014 during “intense times” in Hyderabad. Alone in his studio, he found himself conversing inwardly, as the stories and characters from his childhood merged into a mixture of emotion and imagination. The experience, she recalls, was “intense but exhilarating” – a moment that blurred the lines between individual and collective experience and inspired her to explore deeper themes of interiority and existence.

mixed-media work

Works displayed in art gallery. Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

While pursuing her Master of Fine Arts at Hyderabad Central University, Anupama began to engage with ideas of womanhood, femininity and women’s social realities. He sourced rice paper from Kolkata to create depth and layers in his mixed-media works – a process that, for him, became a symbol of self-discovery. “I felt like a woman whose body layers were slowly being peeled off,” she says, referring to her Island of Hope series.

His early influences include the exotic African masks seen in the Louvre Museum in Paris and Theyyam, the ritual art form of Kerala, where performers wear elaborate masks and headdresses. For Anupama, the mask is a symbol of change and strength. “It turns the artist into a divine being who is transported to another world,” she explains. “The audience also experiences a kind of social transformation – in that moment, the boundaries and inequalities between them and the artist dissolve.”

By Anupama Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Anupama’s work not only explores insecurity and change but also the emergence of identity and hope. In his research on masks, he examined the history of Latin American cultures and their deeply rooted belief systems. “The women I depict may have vulnerabilities and face challenges, but they also undergo transformation. The mask becomes a symbol of power – a way to lead, to choose,” she says.

One of the most personal pieces in the exhibition is a portrait of a Malayali couple from the 1980s – a self-portrait with her late husband Anil, dressed in traditional attire, with a trunk box placed in a corner of the canvas. The assemblages displayed in the show are symbolically drawn from this box, which contains fragments of memory and emotion.

Works displayed in the art gallery. Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

“My husband Anil, who passed away in 2024, was a great inspiration,” she says. “He was the co-sculptor of the statue of Rohith Vemula (the Dalit student whose death at Hyderabad Central University sparked protests against caste discrimination across the country). I came from a applied arts background and wasn’t sure about my artistic direction, but it was he who encouraged me to pursue it. Did.”

Room for Refuge will be on view at Kalakari Art Gallery till 5 November.