CABINET MAN AQUARIUM HEAD
Shot with DxO ONE 
The artist’s work-table desk-drawer absorbs a wide array of her moods and energies, an entire spectrum of bursts of inspiration and rants of frustration. It has absorbed memories she herself might have forgotten. Ruchi Bakshi Sharma investigates these through a series of autobiographical video stories that revolve around that switch between stillness and movement. The resultant Cabinet Man is a curiosity cabinet or as seen here, a personal exhibition space. This Cabinet Man is a philosophical microcosm of her mind. For her, he represents a virtual dream world, a kind of memory theatre inviting the viewer to participate in an exploratory experience.
BAIL, NOT JAIL
The artist tells the story of 2.8 lakh undertrials who languish in prisons across India awaiting trial or undergoing trial. Despite being presumed innocent, they undergo prolonged detention which strips them of their dignity and causes psychological damage. An undertrial can only be released on bail if they deposit money and/or provide collateral. This unjust bail system disadvantages poor and marginalized communities. Fortunately, the Law Commission has recognized this grave injustice and has recently recommended several non-monetary bail conditions. This installation invites people to understand the current bail system and advocate for a fairer system. It is time to stop punishing poverty. In association with Amnesty International
These projects respond to UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure and Goal 10: Reduced Inequalities respectively
The work, ‘Bail, Not Jail’ is supported by:
Amnesty International
ABOUT RUCHI SHARMA
Ruchi Bakshi Sharma studied Communication Design at the National Institute of Design and has directed several award winning live action and stopmotion shorts. She works with multiple mediums – Lenticulars, paper assemblages inside shadow boxes, video, optical and animating toys, kaleidoscopes out of recycled materials, jointed paper puppets for beginning story tellers, illustrated puzzles and handmade zines in collaboration with young kids. Play and motion are dominant elements in her work. The picaresque characters in her drawings are often based on outlandish folklore. The central characters are mediators between human and the spirit, quietly witnessing the push and pull of their game of life, alchemists equipped with supernatural powers seeming to inhabit a strange world of myth and fancy. Her work stands for her fringe theories about the mysterious workings of this world. Allegorical in nature, her style is illustrative and consists of haphazardly associative imagery scrutinized under a magnified gaze. Her aim is to create rabbit holes inside everyday reality.
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