SUCHITRA VAN - RECENT WORKS>>

"The floor has been redefined from the primary arena for social intercourse to the less elevated plane of inadequacy more closely akin to a western spatial definition. Social interaction is now contingent on the number of chairs in a room. Posture and gesture inevitably respond to this new form of space. Traditional Indian culture fades into a more modern Indian reality."[1]

Existing between India and New York City provides Suchitra Van a landscape and vocabulary that unite vast cultural and economic scales. VAN, his studio in New York City offers a place of operation and interaction as an architect, photographer and designer collaborating with artists, other architects and lighting designers. India, for him, has become an extension of his studio, a peripheral space of inspiration.

Recent projects for Van include; Collaborating with artist Sergio Prego on an art installation Winter Star, A construction of three pneumatically moving walls that form random configurations. Still in design stage is an inflatable structure for a building facade in Madrid, Spain. While working at Acconci Studio he co-designed a manmade floating island containing an ampitheater, cafe and playground on the river Mur, in Graz, Austria and a beach front development project in the town of Aberdeen, Scotland, a system in which dunes were conceived as walkways to the sea. On a smaller scale, Van has designed the Hazelden Drug Rehabiltation New York Memorial; a garden in a shaft like space. Among his most inventive commission is the design of the annual Psych Out Awards.

In a series entitled Estrangement, an ongoing photography project for the five years documents the changing perception of his homeland, India. His current photographic project is an intimate study of people's living environment in New York City. Van's photographs have been exhibited in various solo and group shows in the U.S.A, Vienna and India. His fabricated works have been exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art, Whitney Museum of Art, and the Canadian Centre for Architecture. His recent publications include Architectural Record, Independent News, Better Photography, and his commercial work is published in Sculpture Magazine, Professional Lighting, and telecast on PBS.

Suchitra Van studied Color Photography at Parsons School of Art and received his architectural degree from The Cooper Union.

[1] Estrangement artist’s statement from a recent exhibition.

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