This room titled, What once was, still is, but isn't, encompasses Dhruvi Acharya's journey. Wallpapered
with drawings made over 20 years, the room archives her journey as artist, partner, wife, confidante and
mother. The room is her dream-like mindscape of memories shared with her late husband, whom she lost
to a horse riding accident.
A self-stitched carpet on the floor narrates her loss in the form of a love-letter in first person. She bares out
her longing, creating no barriers between her viewer and her deeply felt emotion through these words.
Their shared room, recreated with dressing table, study, bookshelf and their bed, is hung from the
ceiling. As the objects are strung from above, the room remains to be in suspended reality.
A very fine off-white muslin cloth stuffed with raw cotton and stitched with red thread, these pieces of soft
sculpture have their memories etched on them. The bed only half used as the other half is embraced by
sculptural elements like tears and thorns. Drawings that defined life, words they shared through their
lifetime stitched on spines of books in the book shelf, tear drops shuttering windows and silhouettes from
photographs form the room.
A deeply personal story about grieving which is recreated through her vision - you carry with you the
anguish and love once shared into your own memory capsule as you leave the space.