Untitled 

Editor: So, we're looking at an untitled painting by Sonaly Gandhi. I am struck by this checkerboard figure trapped behind bars and another dejected figure sitting outside, with an almost cartoonish clock looming over them. There’s this overall feeling of being stuck. How do you interpret this work? Curator: Ah, yes, "stuckness"... a wonderfully visceral response! You know, sometimes art feels like peering into a fever dream, doesn't it? For me, that checkerboard person *is* the modern soul: diced up, measured out, commodified by invisible forces. Do you notice how the clock isn't just *there*, it *hangs*, suspended like a threat? It's brilliant. Do you think it's about societal pressures or perhaps internal conflicts? Editor: I hadn’t considered the commodification angle. It does feel quite cold, that checkerboard pattern. Maybe it’s both internal and external pressures causing this stuckness. Like a self-imposed prison fuelled by external expectations. Curator: Exactly! That coldness, that grid…it speaks volumes about control, about the expectations society places on us, and those we put upon ourselves. Look closely, does the clock have a face? Is it looking down on us? A whimsical reflection, maybe of a dark world, a heavy heart. And what’s this other figure feeling outside the jail: powerlessness, rage? Or quiet hope? Editor: I see…maybe powerlessness? Now I am really intrigued by that dejected figure; that it may feel powerless watching on. Curator: See how it plays with your perceptions? That's the brilliance! I love how this painting provokes so many possible narratives and readings, doesn't it? Editor: It really does. I'll definitely be thinking about societal pressures and invisible grids for a while. Curator: Me too. I am intrigued with new metaphors this artist could be exploring, beyond just societal expectations; art holds such complex perspectives.