As a biomorphic painter, the forms in my work refer to living entities. The cycle and development of plant life, and the derivative idea that biological and botanical entities share fundamental similarities, are two recurring themes in my work.
In this current series, the long-standing motifs of mangos converge with newer imagery of planted fields and urban architecture. This gives voice to a third theme, concerned with our ability to live harmoniously with each other and with nature.
The recent work depicts a composition of isolated land masses divided and folded upon itself like origami. Within these areas, there are groves of mangos, fields, and buildings-represented mainly by windows. The mangos are a nostalgic reference to my childhood in India, the seeded fields to a desire for order and continuum, and the windows to the multiple iterations of humanity.
Kuzana was born in Bombay in the early ’70s. Her parents brought her home on the back of their motorcycle. The first years of her life were divided between the ancestral home of her grandfather, surrounded by lush gardens and groves of coconut trees, and the exquisite Worli sea face home of her grandmother. Her earliest memories are of temperate weather, fragrant jasmine blossoms, and layers upon layers of color.
A short while later, Kuzana and her infant sister joined their newly immigrated parents in England. The landscape changed from streets crammed with disorderly traffic and cows to cars neatly parked in rows. Crumbling palatial structures were replaced by tidy brick homes with frilly curtains. Plastic toys took over when those of tin and copper couldn’t be found.
Kuzana’s education was in a series of boarding schools; Cornwall and Surrey in England, after that- Kodaikanal in the south of India. At the age of 10, Kuzana and her family moved to New York. Her secondary education was completed at Catholic and public schools.
In 1995, she graduated from SUNY Purchase. Marriage followed shortly thereafter, and she and her beloved moved to South Korea. They spent the next six years living in historic Kyung Ju; teaching English and learning Korean, before they returned to the United States.
Kuzana and her husband have been living in New Mexico since 2001. She has participated in several residencies, the most recent in Sri Lanka. Her work has been exhibited, published and collected both nationally and internationally.
Website
http://www.kuzanaogg.com
