Confirmation, ink on paper, brass, sheet veneer marble.| Photo courtesy of Nep Sidhu.
Nep Sidhu, Toronto-based interdisciplinary artist, is showcasing his latest solo exhibit, Shadows in the Major Seventh, at the Surrey Art Gallery. He was born in England, raised in Scarborough, Ontario and has showcased his art across Canada and the U.S. Sidhu is an artist of presence, claiming his art practice as being rooted in antiquity, yet connected to the present.
Sidhu, 37, describes having grown up with the beliefs of community, hard work and Mother Nature as the divine. The many occurrences of daily life provide Sidhu with creative elements for his expression.
“Everyday living is enough of an investigation,” says Sidhu, about what inspires him as an artist.
His large-scale compositions are made of industrial material, textile and paint. The type of material he chooses depends on the narrative of the idea or story, and the dominant feeling accompanying the idea.
“I don’t think I’ve ever caught myself saying, ‘Boy, I really have something to say in British Romanesque Stone Faberge’,” says Sidhu. “I’m hoping that doesn’t start happening – no offence to British Romanesque Stone Faberge folks.”
One of the sources of inspiration for his art is the passing of his mother. In Confirmation, Sidhu, a welder by trade, uses brass and sheet veneer marble to construct large frames that represent the unconditional love of mothers. The text in the frames are written in Kufic, an old Arabic script. The text joins this unconditional love to infinity, where his mother loves and lives, and which Sidhu calls a third space between architecture and the written word.
However, Sidhu does not think of his mother’s passing as a loss.
“No, it wasn’t a loss. It’s always been about the presence and examples that I grew up around,” says Sidhu.
For Sidhu, this was a confirmation of cycles.
“After the pain and hurt, the work paved a way for an opportunity for her to become bigger than she ever was as a single bodied woman. It was something that represented not just her personally, but the others that were roaming and singing,” he says.
Sidhu says his art is not intended to remove individuals into another mystical realm, but to place them in the moment where the individual is composed of their past and present.
“I also come from a people who practice universal law for a natural balance. The adornment, levitation and the majesty that sits inside the work is all from reflections of what I’ve seen and experienced. None of it is made in trying to point to something that is unnatural or mystic for the sake of placing paradise anywhere but here and now,” says Sidhu.
Collaboration
Rooted in a sense of community, Sidhu joined The Constellation, a group of collaborative artists and friends that formed in 2013, exhibiting their work at the Frye Museum in Seattle from 2014 to 2016.
“I’m happy to have found a group of brothers and sisters that have been sent as such at the same time to commune in this way,” says Sidhu.
Sidhu has also responded to other artists’ work. One of Sidhu’s pieces, Paradise Sportif, is a collection of garments, which are colourful with rich patterns and adorned with tableaus of history. This piece is inspired by Ishmael Butler, a musician and a member of Shabazz Palaces, an American experimental hip-hop group. What emerged is a dialogue between the two artists.
“The attitudes and shifts that were in [Butler’s] narrative felt like a real tangible feeling to go after in terms of its texture and vestment as a sculpture practice. It was a parallel move that also had a noise-cancelling aspect in terms of a process that had no room for unnecessary elements, as our discourse and expressions were based on a call and response that relied on simply listening and trusting,” says Sidhu.
Sidhu’s engagement with his community and other artists, as well as the scale of his works, continue to grow, so people can look forward to seeing more architectural pieces in the near future.
“I’m thankful in the interest and means people provide for wanting to take the care to exhibit and share the work in its full potential,” says Sidhu.
Shadows in the Major Seventh runs from April 9–June 12 at the Surrey Art Gallery. For more information, please visit www.surrey.ca/culture-
