Magical Realm Of Thought, Art, And Fashion...

Designer Gaurav Gupta pens an exclusive essay for Bazaar India on why he dwells in the magical realm of thought, art, and fashion...

''I don’t really see a difference between reality and fantasy. Fantasy is all around us, wherever our minds can expand into. Fantasy is imagination; it is endlessness, and, at the same time, newness. It means parallel realities, which I completely believe to be true. I’m a surrealist at heart. And I do feel that you know, whatever we do or see is not actually real, there’s a lot more behind the scenes.

I was rather lost as a child. I flunked the sixth grade. I was terrible at studies, but I was very good at art, music, and dance, and I even used to sculpt. Did I have a vivid imagination? I don’t know. I have always considered myself to be a bird. So I guess I was always flying into different spaces, and my imagination and exposure expanded with that.

For me, magic realism, like surrealism, is a reality. It informs my desire for the limitlessness and the need to see something new, something that would excite me. I am always asking questions...for instance, what can an embroidery material lend itself to? Why does a garment have to be a garment? Why can’t the sky be dresses? Why can’t people wear sculptures? Or why can’t the sari be a gown? The non conformism of magic realism is the basis of my thought process. I think my work reflects that ‘in between’ place where magic realism and surrealism meet...where the abstractions of the strokes exist.