Vidya Gastaldon

Gastaldon’s figurative painting depicts forms seemingly inhabiting wondrous worlds in which nature would have a magical force. Her cosmic representations give the appearance of a larger, complex ecosystem. Beyond paintbrushes and pencils, her arti...

Gastaldon’s figurative painting depicts forms seemingly inhabiting wondrous worlds in which nature would have a magical force. Her cosmic representations give the appearance of a larger, complex ecosystem. Beyond paintbrushes and pencils, her artistic practice encompasses yoga, gardening as well as meditation and readings of sacred texts and comics. This diversity contributes to creating a protean world, harmoniously “split” between light and darkness, origins and apocalypse, micro- and macrocosms. Gastaldon nevertheless adheres to non-binary modes of representations. Spirits, allegories and divinities cohabit in dazzling and dazed landscapes that touch on the sacred and the secular, art history and the vernacular. Beyond references and appropriations, Gastaldon’s art essentially stems from visions; the artist describes herself as their mere vector or instrument. This approach is uncommon in the recent history of art.