Being alone gets the best work out of Pooja Iranna

BBliss” is what artist Pooja Iranna finds in her studio. It is an L-shaped room which is a part of her residence, in New Delhi’s Asiad Village, “The second floor of my house is just my studio, drawing room and kitchen. The bedrooms are on the third floor, which keeps me away from distractions when I am at work,” says Pooja, who till last year operated from a community studio in Garhi.

Half-a-dozen wooden cabinets, a sofa, few canvases, a flat-screen Mac computer, neatly stocked painting material and absolute serenity make up the furniture in Pooja’s studio. The huge glass window overlooking the roadside greens presents an interesting contrast to the white interiors of the space. Adding a certain flow to the ambience is the non-stop stream of music playing on Worldspace.

The studio has a balcony lined with seasonal potted plants; this is the place where “most of her sketching work takes place”.

Mother to two kids and wife of well-known artist G.R. Iranna, she believes that there cannot be a better location, which would trigger her thought process. Working from home enables her to take care of all her responsibilities and leaves her “with enough time and space to take care of her works. I step out of the shoes of a wife and a mother, the moment my creative self takes on”.

However, Pooja is possessive about her space. She does not let her maid in and even her husband steps in only when she “wants him to see a certain work”. She says, “The best part is that I neither share the mental, nor the physical space with my husband. Our studios, thought process and expression toe different lines, which prevents any kind of ideological clashes. Every evening we meet and discuss our day like normal office goers.”

What may look like a solitary confinement is actually her idea of a perfect workplace. Her mental frame is also evident in her works, which are devoid of any human figure. “I work with mixed media that is digital and water colours. I am obsessed with the images of buildings and find the emptiness they resonate, in absence of a human body, it is very gripping,” explains Pooja.

In love with her studio, Pooja insists, she cannot even dream of moving to another set-up, even if it’s bigger and better. “This is just perfect. I have told my husband that I would like to die here,” she says. ©

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