About Richa
Richa Vora is an award winning contemporary Indian artist, based in London. She is a figurative painter and specialises in Colourful Memoryscapes. She works mainly with oils, inks, pastels and printmaking. Her current work explores the concept of Finding home, journeys and Migration.
She moved to London in 2016 from Kolhapur, India, since then Richa has developed her practice, coupling the influences and exposure in London with the colours of her homeland. Recent achievements include: Receiving The Drawing Bursary from ING Discerning Eye and The British Art Prize; Shortlisted in multiple art competitions, most recently, Trinity Buoy Wharf drawing prize 2023 and Woolwich Contemporary Print fair 2023. She was also commissioned to display a public art work in Bankside, London to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of Shakespeare’s Globe. In her exciting current practice she weaves layers of drawings exploring fading memories of her growing son and hometown.
Statement
My colourful memoryscapes are the answers to a reoccurring question – What makes us?
This is a question that pervades my paintings as I record and illustrate my memories of different times and places in my life as layers within them.
I dig deeply into my own recollections and reminiscences and use this to produce an archive of intersecting memoryscapes. Each layered painting blends people with incidents from my journey, connecting them to my present. One can walk into these scapes and observe my imaginative world experiencing the blend of different times, atmospheres, textures, tastes, patterns and forms.
This cohesion, confluence, or attachment and detachment is a real mystery to me. One I can only untangle through painting. The images deconstruct the question – What makes us – by inviting the viewer to consider whether it is where they live, where they feel most whole, where they can connect with loved ones, or where they can rekindle memories. I believe whether we know it or not, our lives change with political and personal influences.
Because we share a common humanity, we can find similarities in our experiences even when coming from dramatically different places. Hence, my aim in these paintings is to speak a universal abstract language with the alliance of recognisable realism bringing organic unity to the narratives. The artworks are layered with my varied experiences from the natural world, geometry, classical music, symbols and folklores.
Please walk inside with the enthusiasm of a little seeker.