Lot 105: Lotus

ZARINA (B. 1937)
Lotus
signed '3/3 Lotus, Zarina, 82' (on the reverse)
cast paper
23 x 29¼ in. (58.4 x 74.2 cm.)
Executed in 1982; edition 3/3

New Delhi, Gallery Espace, Kagaz ke Ghar (Paper Houses), 2007.

PROPERTY OF A PRIVATE COLLECTION


Zarina's interest in paper pulp arose during a visit to Sanganer, Rajasthan in the late 60's where the artist watched locals make handmade paper. Realizing the potential of paper, Zarina went on to study papermaking in New York where she invented her own method for casting paper, creating moulds and pouring pulp into them until a final object was created.

Lotus emerged from her love for nature, an aspect of her work which is often missed by historians and collectors alike. The shape of this piece came from geometry but was also partly inspired by the blooming lotuses seen by the artist at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden, New York.