Parul Gupta

Parul Gupta, a visual artist from India, joins the Mittal Institute’s Visiting Artist Fellows program. Her work explores movement in architectural spaces as a catalyst for perceptual experiences, using parallax, geometry, and light to shape spatial interactions. Winner of the 2023 Sovereign Asian Art Award, Gupta’s work is part of numerous national and international collections and has been widely exhibited in museums, institutions, and galleries. We spoke with her about what she hopes to gain from her time at Harvard.

Mittal Institute: Welcome to your fellowship, Parul! Can you give us a brief background on yourself?

Parul Gupta: Thank you, Mittal Institute, for giving me this wonderful opportunity to be here. About myself- I live and work in Delhi NCR, India. In 2011, I studied for an MA in Fine Art at Nottingham Trent University, UK. I like to walk around the city and explore its architectural presence. I am also interested in the relationship between architecture and its inhabitants and how they both shape each other. 

Mittal Institute: Can you share your artistic motivations?

Parul Gupta: I find architectural parallax and its interaction with light the most phenomenal experiences we encounter every day. But, because it is every day, we take it for granted. My motivation comes as a result of this daily experience of architecture as a shape-shifter. In response, I make work that brings the viewer’s attention to these subtle shifts and movements through perceptual, cognitive and scientific enquiries.

“I find architectural parallax and its interaction with light the most phenomenal experiences we encounter every day. But, because it is every day, we take it for granted. My motivation comes as a result of this daily experience of architecture as a shape-shifter.”

Mittal Institute: What excites you most about being at Harvard?

Parul Gupta: I am most excited about seeing and reading Harvard’s huge collection of arts and books, engaging with professors whose works I’ve followed, engaging with the artistic community here and walking around the city.

Mittal Institute: What do you hope to research during your time at Harvard?

Parul Gupta: My primary area of research at Harvard would continue to be architectural phenomenology and how artists engage with this area in the contemporary arts, both on and off-site.