s soon as I walk into the space, I am enveloped in a massive, enchanting mural and a roster of engaging paintings. A pervasive soundscape of nature and construction echoes around me.
I immediately get a sense that this “Common Sanctum” exhibit from the architect-turned-artist Bunga Yuradespita at the Salihara Art Center is an immersive and delightful experience.
On one side, Bunga hangs a slew of paintings that play with blocky three-dimensional shapes, utilizing vibrant solid colors from a birds-eye view perspective. While on the other, she utilizes rough grays to create paintings of desolate rooms, evoking the grim passage of time.
(Courtesy of Common Sanctum)
The highlight of the exhibit, however, is the imposing gallery-wide mural right at the center of the space. Guests can freely walk up to the mural, which crosses over the floors in a pervasiveness that surrounds its viewers.
I stare at it, not quite sure what it’s supposed to be. It looks like an alleyway in a brutalist building you’d find in London’s Barbican, but also kind of an MC Escher-esque stairway. From a different angle, though, it echoes German expressionist paintings akin to those found in The Cabinet of Dr Caligari.
Before I realize it, I have spent way too much time immersed in pondering the piece. Each visitor will definitely interpret it differently, and Bunga tells me that’s the point.
