Kala Ghoda Festival: Art installation features works inspired by myths, monsters

Artists can sometimes find inspiration in the strangest of things. For their art installation, Vyom Mehta, Mrugen Rathod and Siddhartha Karawal dug out ideas from the darkest corners of their minds.

Artists can sometimes find inspiration in the strangest of things. For their art installation, Vyom Mehta, Mrugen Rathod and Siddhartha Karawal dug out ideas from the darkest corners of their minds. The trio has come up with three different artworks, which are inspired by myths that deal with monsters.

Titled Monster Family, their show is part of the Hindustan Times Kala Ghoda Arts Festival 2014, and is currently on display at The Tank at Ballard Estate.

Mehta’s work, which will be permanently housed at the store, is called Squid. Talking about his creation, he says, "There was a time when I used to read a lot of fantasy literature. So I believe, somewhere, subconsciously, the desire to create a creature of my own came from there." Karawal’s monster is a gigantic, white, overbearing figure that sprawls across a considerable part of the store.

But it’s Rathod’s wall-mounted, asterisk-shaped work that draws most attention. Made up of tiny cardboard boxes, which have the words ‘green dreams’ printed on them, the installation is inspired from "daily observation", according to the artist.

"I see a monster in the asterisk (*) symbol. It appears quite negligible to us, almost like a dot. But it is not all that small. That’s why I am enlarging it to a magnificent size," he says.