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.