REMEN CHOPRA W. VAN DER VAART

Aurum lazuli
Nature Morte, New Delhi, India.
Using materials such as sandstone, recycled wood, and cement, Remen grounds fleeting memories in tactile, enduring forms. Her works are immersive and dynamic, merging past and present into evolving landscapes. Cities like Rawalpindi and Shimla, filtered through her early experiences, become abstract maps that dissolve the boundaries between geography and memory.
Remen invites viewers to reflect on the interplay of material and memory, permanence and change, and the ongoing process of transformation. Encouraging a deeper connection to the landscapes—both personal and collective—that shape us.
In this context, the symbols of the carpets emerge as a central medium of storytelling, which goes beyond its ornamental function to become a living map of memory. “Growing up, I always saw Persian and Afghani carpets in my grandmother’s home. I would lose myself in their complex, maze-like patterns. It was like a cityscape, where each shape held its own significance,” she says. She juxtaposes the patterns of these carpets on to maps from her memory of the cities she has lived in to create sculptures of landscapes that function as evolving sites where memory is continually reworked and re-imagined. It is as much a process of abstraction as it is of reconstruction.
Drawing is also an essential part of the artist's practice, one that extends beyond paper to different materials. By embedding drawn patterns into the raw textures of materials, Remen creates a space where the past and present are in constant flux. She asks the viewer to reconsider the interplay between material and memory, and to reflect on the landscapes—both external and internal—that define them.
By reworking the traditional forms of maps and symbols into an immersive, multi-material practice, Remen invites us to engage with the ongoing process of transformation, where the past is continually reshaped, reimagined, and rebuilt.
























