Ayesha Kapadia (KometJuice)

The eclectic and experimental nature is what draws us to the Mumbai-based visual artist Ayesha Kapadia’s works.

Ayesha was born and brought up in Mumbai. Through a rather meandering path, she landed into Commercial Arts at the Rachna Sansad College of Applied Art & Craft. Before starting her own venture as KometJuice, she also spent some time in advertising. Over the last few years, she has done some really interesting collaborations with brands like Verve X Chanel, Shift, Bombay Perfumery, Harper’s Bazaar, Clove The Store, among others. She recently also got into self-publishing with 27 Zine. She is now plunging into photography and is collaborating with an art lawyer for a project, among other things.

We talk to Ayesha, over a long brunch in Mumbai and then over a few emails, about her life and work:

Ayesha Kapadia

Could you tell us about your childhood?

My childhood sucked! I remember being very friendly but I was always so spaced out. I think it’s because I would often escape to the world I had built in my head, and it was always better than reality.

I grew up in Bombay and did all my education here. I’d always wanted to be an adult so I could make my own decisions because growing up was hard, especially as a girl child. I always felt like I was made to be contained and hammered into a specific type and way of being. It was just not an enjoyable phase of my life.

I went to an all-girls school. The only person I connected with there was my art teacher. I have this one very clear memory from kindergarten. During art class, I was struggling to shade the petals of a flower. All the other kids crowded around the teacher’s desk to get their work done and I couldn’t see her from where I was sitting, so I just continued to get my shading right. But somehow she saw me struggling with my crayons through all those kids and I heard her voice saying, ‘Ayesha, just let your hand go, just let it go.’ I did just that and it changed a lot for me.

Then in art school, my typography teacher saw something in me which she wanted to develop. On our first day, as a way to break the ice, she threw a question at the class, “What do you want to be?/ Where do you see yourself in 10 years?” As I analyzed this question, I realized that it really didn’t matter ‘what’ I was doing as long as I was happy. She introduced me to the world of Andy Warhol and encouraged me to follow my curiosity about the cosmos. She always led me to new books, movies and people – things that would feed my knowledge. So it’s always been people like her who’ve shaped me.

Was there any particular moment when you realized you wanted to pursue arts?

I’ve grown up in an environment where there was always music on in the house. Art is part of my nature and a way of being. It’s how I interacted with my environment as I tried to make sense of it. I said what I had to say through the expression and I still do. I didn’t wake up one day and decided to be an artist. It’s akin to waking up in the morning and brushing your teeth. You just do it. It comes naturally. The challenge was when I had to formally choose a particular art stream. In fact, till today I find it hard to pick one stream, so I work across various mediums.

But that’s one of the most interesting things about your work. It’s so eclectic.

Well, people always tell me that I should do one thing so they would know what to hire me for, and I completely get that. But I don’t know what my one thing is. I don’t think I’ll ever have it. My one thing is art or ‘expression’ I guess. There have also been people who see it the way you do. For instance, the assignment for Verve – even though they knew me as a designer and an illustrator, they wanted me to make a film which was a partnership between Verve and Chanel as they had seen something I’d put up on Instagram.

And most of the people I’ve worked with so far have given me complete creative freedom. So it’s been good, but as they say, you are only as good as your last project so you have to keep moving on.

Compartmentalising Feelings

Help

Resist

KometJuice is that fantasy mystical place in my head, that I used to keep escaping to, come to life. It’s an expression of my existence and a time stamp of my feelings. It’s all the good juices of the universe coming together in sweet harmony.

How did you land up in advertising?

As I was saying, choosing one stream was challenging. I’ve always been interested in pursuing fashion as I love textiles. My mother would always take me to these handicraft exhibitions every year and since a very young age, I’ve been in love with the rich heritage of Indian crafts and textiles. I applied to NIFT and SNDT for fashion design and got through both.

But someone from my family suggested that I study Commercial Arts instead so I gave the CAT exam. The results were not in for another month and as a back-up plan I was told to sign up at Sophia College. I instantly regretted it as the course had nothing to do with arts and landed me in the same environment as my school. I felt completely lost and couldn’t connect with anyone there. I eventually decided to get out of there without worrying about the repercussions. Thankfully, the CAT results came in by then and I got into Rachna Sansad College of Applied Art & Craft to pursue Commercial Arts.

Looking back, I am glad I studied Commercial Arts because I was introduced to different types of art forms like typography, graphic design, etc. which I absolutely love. However, I have always felt that art schools also need to have business lectures to teach artists how to manage their taxes, accounts, art related laws etc. So many artists struggle with it. I have decided to fix this and have joined forces with an art lawyer. Stay tuned.

And then you worked in an ad agency after college?

Yes, right after college. We got done with our exam on a Friday and the following Monday morning, I was at work at DDB Mudra. Advertising was really easy and you didn’t have to apply yourself emotionally at all. You just had to apply what you learnt in college.

So when did you get out of there?

I worked there for a year and a half. It was nice to have a paid job for the first time. And I had my own desk and a phone. My bosses were very encouraging. But after a while, I realized that to pursue anything else, I needed to get out of there. So I finally decided to quit to start my own journey.

I was on a sort of break for a year but took up freelance jobs and did an art residency at Space 118. The residency was really nice because I got to explore different sides of Fine Art that I hadn’t practiced since high school. I explored my love for writing, poetry, and painting which made me realize that I had so much more to offer.

Ayesha

My childhood sucked! I remember being very friendly but I was always so spaced out. I think it’s because I would often escape to the world I had built in my head, and it was always better than reality.

How would you describe KometJuice?

KometJuice is that fantasy mystical place in my head, that I used to keep escaping to, come to life. It’s an expression of my existence and a time stamp of my feelings. It’s all the good juices of the universe coming together in sweet harmony.

How do you balance between commercial work and personal projects?

There is no balance at all.

Do you believe that it is important to do passion projects?

Of course, I couldn’t have survived without them. Like you started TFM as an outlet to be yourself, to express yourself and discover things that you wanted to discover. Your soul kind of needs it. KometJuice is just like that where I can experiment, express myself, and have complete freedom. It’s how I see things.

I think it stems from when in school you’re taught how to draw an apple. You’re already being told what to do and how to do it at that tender age. I feel that they shouldn’t tell us how to do art. It’s an expression. You have to feel free when you’re doing art. If you see an apple and you want to make it blue, then you should be able to make it blue.

What’s been your most exciting personal project so far?

It has to be the films I used to consistently make on Instagram. I think it was between 2014-2016 . And the collection of watercolor paintings I made in Kodaikanal this March. And the zine.

What was been your breakthrough commercial project?

Oh my gosh, I don’t think it’s here yet. Perhaps art directing Parekh & Singh’s music videos has had the maximum reach. But honestly, every project has been quite amazing. I think when I was being commissioned to make videos as a filmmaker for Verve and Bombay Perfumery, that’s when a little bit of a shift happened for me artistically. I didn’t see myself as a ‘filmmaker’ before that.

Does writing feed into your artworks in anyway?

Writing is a medium of expression. So for me, it’s always about finding the right medium to express myself which could be a video or an art emoji or words. I have no control over it. The art comes out and takes over. Like the other day, I had gone to see the Moon sculpture which was so beautiful. I tried to take pictures and videos, but it wasn’t enough to truly express how it made me feel, so I just had to write. The expression came out through words. It might sound crass but it’s a lot like peeing – you just have to let it out.

As an artist, what is your relationship with social media? Also, do you ever feel the need to consciously switch off in some way?

Social Media allows my work to reach a larger audience and connect with more people, which is fantastic. I get orders for my zine on Instagram. People I don’t know write in to express how something they saw on my feed made them feel. There have been so many students and young artists who ask me questions on Instagram about art. It’s great that people can reach out, because that’s the whole point right? To have this community, to help each other out.

And I understand this whole taking time off bit because sometimes I feel I’m addicted to Instagram in an unhealthy way. But on the other hand, I’m a hyper-visual creature. So Instagram is a lot like reading a book for me. I have thought about taking a break, but that has just never happened. I like to stay connected. I don’t want to disconnect ever (laughs). Also, social media is a way for me to be “social” as I don’t consider myself an extrovert.

How does Bombay as a city influence you?

Bombay is home. It’s the soil. Growing up, my grandparents always told us stories about their time in the city, how Bombay used to be, stories about their childhood, and the people they met and interacted with through their time in the city. And that’s connected me to the city in a special way.

Bombay can get a bit much sometimes. But just when you feel like you’ve met all the people and been in and out of the ‘scene’, it leaves you wanting more.

Does it influence your art in any way?

I’m sure subconsciously it does because it’s my environment. Living in a city that’s culturally active has definitely shaped my work.

Who are the artists around the world who inspire you?

Well, John Yuyi is doing such interesting work right now. I also love Andy Warhol and Alexander McQueen. I took a trip to London last year to meet Warhol through his paintings. I like him not so much because of his work, though his work is great, but because of his life stories. And McQueen was so unabashedly himself. To be yourself can be such a scary thing, but sometimes that’s the only option you have.

NOW

KometJuice X Harper’s Bazaar

Writing is a medium of expression. So for me, it’s always about finding the right medium to express myself which could be a video or an art emoji or words. I have no control over it. The art comes out and takes over.

What have you been upto this year?

I finished a very interesting project early this year where I was working as the Creative Associate at a store called ‘Clove’. The shoot I did with Bombay Perfumery later in the year was creatively satisfying too because the brief literally was “do whatever you want” and that never happens.

I’m guessing projects like these are more exciting for you as you can explore different mediums.

Yes, I love it because I’m used to adapting. I feel that if your aesthetic sensibilities, technical sounding, and foundation is strong, you can adapt to any role artistically.

What are you currently working on?

I just launched my first zine which is a very interesting medium to have discovered and play with.

Right now, I’m also extremely focussed on a very special project in collaboration with Manojna who is a fabulous art lawyer and Mihir who is a digital whiz. Our goal is to be able to help people with this tool and we’re taking time out from our regular commitments to put this together. Then a good friend of mine who is a photographer suggested I take up photography seriously. So I’m excited to move into that space. I’ve been shooting on film and am interested in seeing how much I can experiment with it. Apart from that, I am very focused on a few community driven projects. It’s all at a very nascent stage right now and would love to tell you more about it once we launch.

There’s a long list of mediums I still want to explore and personal projects I want to dive into. I need ten more arms and ten more hours in a day to be able to achieve all of it. One step at a time though.