This original acrylic painting on canvas paper features a pinkish orange chair set against a minimal background of oranges and greens. The chair sits off center and titling to the left of the picture plane. A strong light source shines from the left creating shadows on the chair and the floor to the right. Panels of light stretch across the seat of the chair and the floor.

This paining is done a loose, abstract, minimal style. Brushstrokes and layers of color are visible on top of the textured canvas paper.

I love how a chair does not resemble the human form but represents the presence or absence of a person due to its function and the human imagination. The ways in which we use a chair can influence our imaginations/imaginings of people, their absence and their presence. With an empty chair, we hold space for a loved one who is coming, or perhaps we remember one who has gone. We often sit in the same chair in our homes with family or friends, we sit across from an empty chair in anticipation of who will fill it. So often when a person dies, the chair they always sat in stands in as a presence for their absence. Sometimes an absence itself becomes an overwhelming presence. The absence can be for any reason, death, a move, a loss of connection. The absence becomes a new kind of presence that is sometimes more visceral, haunting and overwhelming than the person's actual presence. I enjoy this paradox.

My work brings the presence of absence right to the forefront. I think this absence speaks to the bittersweet longings we all experience as humans. The longing for the lover we haven't yet met, the one we have lost, friends and family that are no longer with or near us for whatever reason. We long for ourselves. We long for things that can't be seen or known. The human experience is ultimately one of longing. Although this unending yearning can induce states of very real melancholy, I think it ultimately speaks to our desires for growth, change, beauty, connection and love, our never ending hope and anticipation of what could or might be.



Title-Orange Chair in Landscape No. 1
Size- 12"x 16"
Medium- Acrylic paint on canvas paper

This painting does not have a mat and it is unframed.

This is a one of a kind, original acrylic painting on canvas paper by artist Emily Bharatiya.
This is not a print.

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