Julia Romano and Meghna Patpatia
DREAMSCAPES
The world around us plays a distinct role in formulating our perceptions, ideas and inspirations. The scape is defined as any extended view or the picture/representation of one. Be it a landscape, cityscape or seascape, each represents the inextricable relationship humans tend to form with their geographical surroundings. Argentinian artist Julia Romano and Indian artist Meghna Patpatia, though divided by geography and culture, merge in their expression of this intricate relationship with the scape: a relationship that is universally experienced by all on this planet.

The project is prepared with the support of the Consulate General of Argentina in Mumbai and the patronage of the Basu Foundation for the Arts.

Sanjana Shah
Curator
Sanjana Shah comes from an Indian Art and Real Estate background. She has graduated with a dual degree of BA in English Literature and the WPP Communications work-study program from the Parsons - Indian School of Design & Innovation, Mumbai. She then went on to take over her family's art gallery business, Tao Art Gallery, which is an established cultural hub of Indian art in Mumbai since twenty years. In the role of Creative Director she co-curates exhibitions, writes concept notes, ideates on new potential collaborations and manages the gallery's brand image and sales. She is also working as an independent Art Curator and Consultant both in India and internationally. She is currently appointed as the India Ambassador at Arte Laguna Prize 20.21. As an extension of her role as Art Consultant she works part-time in her family company, Group Satellite, which completes 50 years this year. She oversees all the show flat interiors and aesthetics and engages with clients and interior designers for art sales post completion. Over the years she makes it a point to keep learning more whenever possible. She has finished a summer course at Christies London titled, Human Creativity Across Time & Space in 2017 and two at Sotheby's, Foundations in Contemporary Art in 2018, and Introduction to Curating in 2019. As part of her enthusiasm for education she founded the #EducateForArt series in Tao with the sole purpose of conserving the rich heritage of global art and allowing audiences to explore the wonders of art in a truly experiential manner through wholesome workshops for kids and adults promoting Art Appreciation, Art History and Art Knowledge.
Both take existing realistic elements and combine them with the surreal elements of mythology and ancient anthropology. The endeavor is to create these dreamscapes that question what is real and what is imagined, what is physical and what is metaphorical.

Julia Romano
Artist
Julia Romano was born in 1978, in Santa Fe, Argentina. She is a Professor and Licentiate in Plastic Arts from the Cordoba National University, Argentina. In her last production, she is interested in contemporary theories that approach landscape as an object of representation in the history of art and thinks about the possibility of creating one's own landscape through personal stories. In her works, this genre is transformed into digital collages made with photographic images taken by her of places in Argentina and other Latin American countries, and landscape paintings by classical European artists. With this material, she makes compositions that result in landscapes that float on the white of the paper like personalized islands or oases. She has participated in numerous contests and exhibitions, both individual and collective, at home and overseas. Her work is part of important public and private collections from Argentina and abroad. Her work is sponsored by the Basu Foundation for the arts, in India.
"The landscape is transformed according to our experience in it. It is a cultural container that registers, in the multiplicity of the elements that compose it, a history of the world. The landscape is a superposition of moments that contribute to the construction of an exhaustive history of that place. Perhaps the most exciting thing is to recognize that there is not a single reading of the territory but that this succession of layers contains the testimony of each being that inhabits it."

JULIA ROMANO
Artist

Meghna Patpatia
Artist
Meghna Patpatia lives and works in Mumbai, India. Through detailed ink painted drawings her art practice explores creatures, natural forms synergising and adapting to dystopic environments. With mythological references she draws parallels to the past and future changing landscapes reflective of the oncoming Anthropocene. She completed her education from Sir J.J School of Art, BFA in Fine art, (Major-Painting) in 2009. She went onto do her Post Graduation in Museology & Conservation Studies in 2010 from the CSMVS Museum, Mumbai. After exploring the field of restoration in the initial years of her career, she began creating ink drawings on varied surfaces inspired by her learnings during restoring historical artworks. Meghna has participated in various art residencies and exhibitions and has been recognized by esteemed institutions internationally. Most recently she received The Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grant, a prestigious award and recognition for representational art worldwide.
"The study of creature behaviour is inspired by mythological, historical and faerie elements. Along with these I draw an imagined future by connecting all the epochs bygone and currently unfurling. Sentient beings and natural elements are constant witnesses to changes in our biodiversity and terrain. I believe in honoring them by drawing them in diverse environments with repetitive patterns weaving them into transformative shifts."

MEGHNA PATPATIA
Artist
In a world where awareness of the value of land and the study of ancestral patterns is key to ensuring a sustainable future, Romano and Patpatia create works that not only aesthetically appease but also contain an underlying message of awakening. Aspects of co-existence and ecological and cultural synergy are beautifully highlighted through these dreamscapes, but with a subtle undertone of the very real threat of depletion in a dystopian future. Much like the land around us, the art is layered, multifaceted and deep in composition. The combined artistic dreamscapes of this two-person show help in bringing the world a little bit closer and opening our minds a little bit wider.

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