I went to see the lovely exhibition of work by artist Bharti Kher at the Vancouver Art Gallery last week. I love the show. Her work has a strong focus on materials and labour intensive process, both things I explore in my own work. The artwork is contemplative, emotional and feminine, and the whole exhibition feels like an out of the ordinary choice for what is typically shown at the Vancouver Art Gallery.

The figurative sculptures are striking but I was really drawn to the elaborate pieces Kher creates using the repetition of hundreds of thousands of bindis. I’ve included a few detail photos of some of these. They’re a beautiful exploration of mark-making.

The detail of this last piece was one of my favourites, mostly because my friend and I almost passed them by completely. At first glance from far away all the details are lost, but going closer we could see all this lovely shape and texture. The pieces are also made from bindis but on a large scale, with layers and layers of them all in black.

Bharti Kher Matter continues until October 10th at the Vancouver Art Gallery. I highly recommend it over the Picasso show.