Hema Upadhyay had a lot to look forward to professionally, even though personally she was going through turbulent times. Those close to her say she never let the personal infringe upon her work...
Hema Upadhyay had a lot to look forward to professionally, even though personally she was going through turbulent times. Those close to her say she never let the personal infringe upon her work...
Hema Upadhyay’s murder has shaken the city yet again and has left the art community grieving the loss of a prolific artist. According to friends and associates, professionally, the artist was at a high point looking forward to an exhibition at Sunaparanta’s Sensorium Festival in Goa that starts today and then an event in the US. In fact, Hema’s last work was a commissioned project for Sensorium.
Siddharth Dhanvant Shangvi, director, Sensorium, said, “Her work was very fine and the one we commissioned was very singular in nature. It portrayed a conversation between two jilted lovers of what they might have said to each other if they wanted to reconcile. But all throughout it was very evident that there were a lot of reflections within her and a deep sorrow. As it always is with artists, their thoughts and feelings are most vividly portrayed in their artwork and it could be clearly seen in her work as well.”
However, Hema’s long time friend and associate Roshni Vadehra, curator, Vadehra Art Gallery, doesn’t seem to agree with Siddharth. “In fact, the most striking aspect about her work is that she never let her personal space infringe upon her professional work. So it would be wrong to draw any inferences about her personal life from her work.” Roshni has known Hema for about ten years. “We have worked in various projects with Hema, we exhibited her work in London, Baroda and then another event in Singapore. She was always amazing as an artist and a person, great to work with, always enthusiastic and excited about whatever she was working on. We always enjoyed collaborating with her,” says the curator. Her last meeting with Hema too had ended on a high note, where the artist seemed very upbeat about her future shows. “When we last met, she seemed really excited about the exhibition in Goa and was planning to attend the opening installation.
She seemed to be in a really happy space and was also excited about an upcoming event in the US next year. We were making plans for it. In fact she was working on many different things and ideas.”
Baroda-based artist Vinod Daroz knew Hema from his university days. “Hema and Chintan were my seniors at the MS University of Baroda — they were two years senior to me. But she would never treat me like a junior, she always saw me as a friend. Later, whenever she would be in Baroda, or I would be in Mumbai, we would catch up. You didn’t need to know her for years to be friends with her — she had a very easygoing nature. She was the same even with the faculty members in our university.” Vinod adds, “My friends in Mumbai have been updating me as regards the investigation. I still can’t believe that Hema is no more. She was such a good human being. It’s truly is a shock to see how her beautiful life came to a horrific end.”
After hearing of her tragic death, Atul Kumar, theatre veteran and artistic director of The Company Theatre took to Facebook to express his grief on Monday. When we contacted him, he said, “My association with Hema was more on a personal level rather than a professional one, although I had met her only once when she donated her painting for our theatre space in Kamshet. She was a very kind hearted person, who trusted our dream of establishing a theatre space. We later made her painting a part of a larger exhibition and she agreed to give the painting to us free of charge,” Atul said.
Kalpana Shah, owner of Tao Art Gallery, first met Hema in the year 2000. “I was opening Tao at that time. She showed interest in working with me and we worked for a span of two months together. I remember her as a very lively, sober, enthusiastic creative girl in love with her work. Later, Chintan worked with Tao for over a year and even Hema did. In those days they were happy together. I had organised an all-women artists camp to Cambodia with Anjolie (Ela Menon), Rini Dhumal and Hema too was part of the camp. I loved her work. I got to know about her divorce later but we were not in touch then. I’ll remember her as a nice person and a prolific artist.”
Talking about the exhibition that starts today in Goa, Siddharth adds, “We have a beautiful corner in which her work is displayed. After the incident it has become almost a shrine for her. I hope that people who love and admire her and her work will come in large numbers to pay homage to her. Our deepest condolences are with her friends and family, but the best way according to me to honour her and remember her would be to respect and celebrate her work.” Where will her last piece go after the exhibition, is still undecided. Roshni says, “As for her artwork that we have, we will keep it for now and let the art community decide what they want to do with it.”
