Artist Sonia Jose captures the many changes her neighborhood of Jayanagar has gone through since its inception through her photographs

Artist Sonia Jose captures the many changes her neighborhood of Jayanagar has gone through since its inception through her photographs

In a neighbourhood raided by grubby footpaths, skyscrapers and shopping malls that now crowd Jayanagar and its surroundings, city artist Sonia Jose is travelling back in time trying to document the area's past. Lush green trees, clean sidewalks and striking homes once defined the post independence era during which Jayanagar was built.u00a0u00a0

A resident of Jayanagar, Jose is showing her works in a photographic exhibition titled A Place called Home. Jose, a Srishti School of Art & Design alumnus, works with a range of media that covers drawing, sculpture, photography and installation. "Jayanagar is my immediate environment and is transforming from a relaxed, quiet and peaceful residential area, into a busy over crowded, over populated, noisy and polluted commercial area," she says.

A Place called Home is simply a comparative analysis completed over a period of time that chronicles the transformation of Jayanagar. "The value of this project lies in the documentation of a place. My work relates to the environment and my personal or social history. I like to look at the relationships, exchanges and politics between places, architecture, object and individual," Jose says.

Jose's art is cultivated from a need to acknowledge and preserve lived experiences. Her photographs show a before and after scenario where she shows houses with simple lines and curves and surrounded by trees transformed into garish, loud and steel and chrome spaces with an absence of greenery.

Jose's photographs clearly document the decay and the evolution of her neighbourhood that has resulted in a marked change in the character of Jayanagar. "There is a lot more variety in the materials and aesthetics, in relation to lifestyle changes. I also see a marked increase in the height of buildings as well as the compound walls," she says.

At The Gallery at Sua House, Kasturba Cross road
On till May 27, 10 am to 6 pm
Call 2212 8358