Madi Acharya-Baskerville
1. What does success mean to you as an artist?
Success is about being recognised as having created something relevant and gaining exposure for the work, which has to be seen. I feel that I’ve been successful in what I am trying to say when the work connects with curators, museums, and private galleries because the process starts from finding the materials and thinking about the ideas, then it must continue with sending the work out in the world to make it last. It’s very important to complete this process. Success is also related to the competitive nature of the art world so for me it’s a triumph if I have been successful with what I do. It spurs me on when I receive recognition, get shortlisted or win something. It makes me feel it’s worth pursuing it.
2. What are the themes of your work at present?
Last year, I won the First Plinth: Public Art Award with a proposal about the use of objects and materials in the environment. The work is currently at the Art House in Wakefield and it was made of materials that I collected like the platform from the salvage yard at the Olympic Park in Stratford and discarded textiles for the figures. My work is about the materials in our environment that are now showing another layer of interaction with nature as a consequence of being left outside and affected by the elements of nature. It is about creating work in the public realm predominantly made out of reclaimed materials and objects that have been part of our lives. For example, there is a huge problem with discarded textiles going to landfill and I want to highlight that textiles are one of the biggest sources of environmental pollution. I am also interested in the narratives behind materials and objects: their past, what that may mean when I look at them, and what that may mean when the viewer looks at them or the finished work. Everyone brings their narrative and it’s the layers of narratives and interactions that interest me truly. I will also say that my practice is very much rooted in the south-Asian culture, especially India, and my personal history of living here and having come from India and regularly going back as well, as a sort of synthesis of where I come from. An important part of my practice is participatory projects, which interest me very much as a way of tapping into people's creativity. The use of materials that are in our environment and working with communities to create works is a good way of opening up discussions about the environment because people often will discover new ways of using materials that are found. It's important to bring an environmental consciousness to the viewer and the public when the work is made and exhibited.
3. Do you feel a sense of belonging to the art world?
I feel that I am very much part of it. I have been quite successful with grant applications that have enabled me to progress. When I was living in Oxford, I visited the Ashmolean Museum regularly and I applied for a grant to the Arts Council of England, which was successful, for a project based on south-Asian textiles collection of the Ashmolean Museum. I became very interested in their patterns to such an extent that they became an inspiration and source for my work in clay. I gave another life to the pattern on the heavily damaged textiles, just in a different medium, ceramics. This experience led me to apply to the 20/20, a programme launched by the Decolonising Arts Institute with funding provided by Freelands Foundation, Arts Council England and UAL. I won one of their artist residencies to create works for the public collection of the Lightbox in Woking. A solo exhibition of the works followed and I was awarded a National Lottery Project Grant from Arts Council England (2024) for the ‘I Dream a Palace’ exhibition.
Surviving Bird , 2022 - Mixed media sculpture Dimensions (cm) H55 W22 D16
Living with Ganesh, 2023, Dimensions (cm) H40 W 32 D 20, Ceramic Sculpture
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