In Person: Material Scars with Asim Waqif

For the seventh episode of In Person, we speak with Asim Waqif about his ongoing solo show, Material Scars, at Nature Morte, Delhi. The show reflects Waqif’s practice of combining natural and industrial materials as it brings together a group of new sculptures along with his latest experiments with photography in the form of cyanotype prints—confusing process, image and object together into a single aesthetic statement.

Invented in 1842, the cyanotype printing process has been predominantly used for reproducing architectural plans over the past century. However, it also has a history of being used in art-practice, beginning with Anna Atkins’ Photographs Of British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions (1843). Waqif’s experiments with this nineteenth-century printing process stem from his initial encounter with the Delhi-based Maze Collective Studio. This resulted in a series of unique prints that push the medium into abstractions of light and shadow, making the textured surfaces the first thing one encounters when seeing the works. Waqif’s continued practice of using both organic and industrial materials for his hybrid sculptures is evident in the other works that are a part of this show, where the materiality of his work once again becomes the most prominent aspect.

Asim Waqif studied architecture at the School of Planning and Architecture, Delhi. After initially working as an art director for film and television, he started making independent video works and documentaries before moving into a dedicated art practice. His recent projects have attempted crossovers between architecture, art and design, with strong contextual references to contemporary urban planning (or the lack thereof) and the politics of occupying, intervening in, and using public spaces. Some of his projects have developed within abandoned and derelict buildings in the city that act like hidden activity spaces for the marginalised.

^{(Featured Image: Installation view of IDevelopment/Redevelopment, Mukteshwarm, Mileage analysis 1, Mileage analysis 3, Mileage analysis 2 at Nature Morte, Delhi. Asim Waqif. 2021. Image courtesy of Nature Morte and the artist.)}

Live-streamed on 12 November 2021

In case you missed the previous episodes of In Person, you can watch the most recent ones here, here, here and here.