Notes From The City: An Abundant Life

The first time I met Sunil Garg was at Novado Gallery in Jersey City where he had an installation as part of a group show with the beautiful Artists Sandra De Sando and Candy Le Sueur who I have written about in these pages before. One of Sunil's pieces was very large and took up a good portion of one of the areas, with colored light tubes descending from ceiling to floor arranged in a way that was lovely and allowed the eye to wander from one to the next as the colors changed according to a seemingly inner rhythm. It was the opening night, and at the end of the evening as I was leaving and the music in the background was turned off, I said goodnight to Sunil and we stood talking in the exit doorway for a moment. And then I started to hear something that I hadn't heard before, and as it seemed to be coming from the area of his sculpture I asked him, "Is is making noise?" he smiled delightedly and said, that yes it was, and so we walked over to it together and he began to describe the inspiration and vision and the mechanics behind it. It had been inspired by the Hindu creation story of water being brought to earth from Heaven, and Sunil would be able to tell the story much better than I can, but I'll try to describe it here. When you have a chance to meet him, ask him to tell you himself because he's a wonderful story teller in addition to being a wonderful and inventive Artist.

As I remember the story, the three Hindu gods of creation, Brahma the Creator, Vishnu the Preserver, and Shiva the Destroyer, were trying to figure out how to bring water down to earth from Heaven. But because of the amount of water and its power, they were afraid that if it was brought down to earth suddenly there would be flooding and devastation instead of healthy growth and sustainable life. So they discussed it and Shiva offered to let it run through his hair, and so he stood between Heaven and Earth and let the water come down to earth gently while acting as a conduit. I loved this story, especially the way Sunil told it to me, and I loved the beautiful light sculpture even more when I understood that the descending colors and sounds of dropping and splashing water emitting from it had been envisioned and planned specifically with that story in mind. The way it was designed, the sounds and changing colors were configured so that they complimented each other and were timed to run through full cycles before beginning again with another version of their journey, echoing in a way the cycle of life.

Sunil has been an Artist his whole life, but he is also a lawyer and an engineer, and so his mathematical and scientific methods and ideas are very much formulated through professional scientific theory. But it is within those areas that his creativity begins to send his vision into another realm and the moment of inspiration begins to inform his work. As a 3D Experimental Light Artist he has created such diverse artworks as light boxes, structural pieces, an installation in marsh land in Southern New Jersey, light sculptures of various sizes and shapes, wire sculptures that hang in the gardens outside his own and other homes and public spaces that are lit with a spectrum of colors in the evenings and at night, and he regularly explores new technology like light painting on a tablet. I've also had the opportunity to visit him and his beautiful wife at their home and the design of it is lovely. He's an excellent cook and they are excellent hosts, and over lunch or dinner the conversation flows in a way that is enlightening and inspiring.

Sunil has a solo show at New Jersey City University which I have been waiting to see when they finally open back up again to the public, as it was shut down just before it was due to open with a reception, and just recently he moved into a new studio at Mana Contemporary. Many of his pieces are at the gallery at New Jersey City University, but there are a few beautiful pieces in the new space. His former studio was in a warehouse in an area that was difficult to get to from where I live, and so I was not able to visit him while he was there. Now that he's in a studio that is much closer, I'm looking forward to visiting with him and getting lost in the stories he tells as he begins to weave an adventure about the way that we can experience the dynamic play of light.

Sunil Garg
In His Studio At Mana Contemporary
888 Newark Avenue
Jersey City, New Jersey
https://www.manacontemporary.com/

http://www.sunilgarg3d.com/