The Surreal World of Vartika Jangid

Vartika Jangid’s dreamscapes are anything but ordinary. Her spatial experiments have this hypnotic power to pull you into her fantastical world.

“I love fiction. Reality is too harsh for me,” says Vartika Jangid as she talks about her love for reading. Her ‘dreamscapes’ as we like to call it, is a reflection of her imagination. And for the viewers, it gives that brief moment of escape from reality. Every spatial experiment balances a thin line between reality and groundbreaking design. They might not be real spaces (yet), but her mesmerising works make you want to submerge yourself into her surreal world.

“I am glad that growing and even in my design school I never knew what would be the final destination. I didn’t sketch of draw or open up the creative box in my head. it all happened naturally. The process is still driving me somewhere,” she muses. Travelling in the train in Mumbai, she reminisces how she would lose herself i the fictitious worlds created by the authors. “I remember reading Palace of Illusions and The Forest of Enchantment by Chitra Divakaruni Banerjee. The books teased my imagination, it took me to another reality,” says the artist about how books and reading has influenced her work. “I wandered through Sita’s forest, through the Palace of Illusions creating my own interpretations of the author’s words.”

She’s a storyteller, someone who imagines a whole new world for you, even as her works encourage you to create your own interpretation, add your own story to it. “These dreamscapes are my thoughts and dreams. visuals that would bring joy, an escape from reality,” says the artist about her work.

In her most recent Instagram feed, she calls it ‘the tunnel of my thoughts’ the audience is lead through a translucent, fluid, sinuous glass, tunnel. You reach a destination which looks to the infinite ocean and sky. The colours, the thoughtful detailing, it’s sublime. In ‘Sunshower’ yet another spatial experiment by the talented artist, the Sun is still peeping through the clouds and the rain is falling down with all its majesty. “It’s a version of life that lives in your subconscious mind.”

Although we’ve started identifying her with her dreamscapes, her creative realm is not restricted to that. Much like her imagination, Jangid is busy exploring and experimenting with all forms of design. “I recently got the opportunity to work with Lekha Washington for installation ‘The breathing Room’ shortlisted for The Burning Man. I’m also working on some really exciting architectural concepts — The Dhun Life in Jaipur,  a Lake Project in Hyderabad, and some residences in Dubai,” informs Jangid.

Ask her about her dream collaboration, and she says, “Thomas Heatherwick. For him design is all about making life easier and impactful. And I totally ascribe to that.”

Jangid’s work urges you to find your own mirage of thoughts. Take for instance, the ‘Natural Bathtub’ is a representation of one escaping from the monotones of daily life and finding their own escape. Nature is an integral part of her work, and she captures it beautifully — the trees, the rustling of the leaves, the stillness of water, the dance of light and shadow! In her Utopia, everything is so perfect, that it seems real! Or rather, you want it to be real!