Shivangi Kalra – With my eyes closed

Kalra paints real spaces, but not as they actually were. She paints them as they are remembered: distorted, layered and steeped in melancholy. She begins by closing her eyes and mentally returning to a particular space. Gradually, images emerge: the balcony of her childhood home, cars speeding past, lights dancing in the garden and conversations around a laid table.  

In her paintings, memories from different times and places flow into one another. Images from her childhood in Delhi become interwoven with her life in the Netherlands. Perspectives shift, everyday objects take on unexpected forms, and the familiar sometimes becomes absurd or unsettling. 

The house where Kalra spent the first fifteen years of her life frequently reappears in her work. It no longer exists. The Delhi she remembers has changed too. As the city expanded rapidly, bungalows and green gardens increasingly gave way to high-rise buildings and a more transient urban life. 

Her paintings are therefore not only personal recollections, but also an archive of a changing city. At the same time, they reveal a world shaped by class and privilege. Behind the welcoming atmosphere and exuberant gatherings, Kalra poses questions: who has a seat at the table? Who serves the food? Who is heard? And who remains in the background? 

Step inside 

With warm colours, gentle curves and glimpses into adjoining spaces, Kalra invites you to step inside her painted worlds. Open doors, balconies and pictures on the walls continually reveal new perspectives: memories within memories. Dining tables are places of togetherness, but also of tension, silence and unspoken power dynamics. 

The paintings are personal, but never closed off. Become part of the world depicted and ask yourself: what place do I occupy here?