FRAGMENTS OF MY IMAGINATION

Chila Kumari BurmanFRAGMENTS OF MY IMAGINATION19 November – 23 December 2011at Blindspot Gallery, Hong KongOpening Reception: Friday, 18 Nov 2011, 6:30-8:30pm “Fragments of My Imagination” is Chila Kumari Burman’s first solo exhibition in Hong Kong featuring her latest photographic collages and print artworks on paper and canvas that are uniquely embellished with gems, rhinestones and crystals.One of the few British Indian artists to exhibit internationally, Burman’s story is no ordinary one. Born to Punjabi immigrants who came to Britain to earn a decent living, Burman grew up in the back streets of Bootle in Liverpool. Although her father was a bespoke tailor, he could not find work and became an ice cream man to support his family. Chief influences in Burman’s art remain her family and Indian roots. One often finds images of ice cream, cornets, and lolly ices scattered throughout her beautiful works that seamlessly blend references to popular culture with family photos, Bollywood stars and Hindu gods.Educated at the famous Slade School of Art, Burman has worked experimentally across print, paint, sculpture, photography and mixed media since the mid 1980’s. Drawing on fine and pop art imagery, she explores Asian femininity, her personal family history, and articulates a critical position within contemporary post-colonial consumption saturated Britain.In recent works such as 'Fortune' and 'Perfect Fit,' Burman explores issues of gender and race through the aesthetics of collecting. Playing with the formal properties of dress accessories, lingerie, bindis, bras, flowers, hair- pieces and jewelry, she works with repetition, pattern and allusions to the hyper-feminine, the sexual and the everyday. Encompassing the idea of Arte Povera and recycled materials, Burman cleverly transforms these 'worthless' materials that many consider cheap kitsch into a body of art worthy of serious contemplation.About Chila Kumari BurmanBurman received her professional Fine Art and Graphic Design training at Leeds Polytechnic and later pursued her Master of Fine Art (Printmaking) at Slade School of Fine Art in London. Burman’s works are globally exhibited at major galleries and museums and comprise important public collections in the UK and abroad including the Victoria and Albert Museum, Birmingham Museum, The British Council in London, Arts Council England, Wellcome Trust in the United Kingdom, as well as the Devi Foundation in New Delhi. Burman currently lives and works in London.About Blindspot GalleryBlindspot Gallery is set up to bring contemporary photography, an art form that has entered the blind spot of the Hong Kong art market, to a higher degree of visibility. We feature both established and emerging photographers and artists, mainly from the region but not limited to.