Food, clothing and shelter were once the sum total of what we needed to survive. Today, for many, those same basics have quietly transformed into aspirations, and for some, outright luxuries. Rapid urbanization has made homes unaffordable, fashion increasingly disposable and competition relentless. It’s this shift that led artist Bandana Jain to ask a deceptively simple question: are we still fulfilling our needs, or have we become bound by our desires? Know more about it on SURFACES REPORTER (SR).
Inside the Work
Her latest work, ‘A Box of Bondage,’ is a direct response to that question. It is a piece that reflects on the modern cycle of wanting, acquiring and consuming. At the centre of the piece sits a human figure, positioned beneath a stack of boxes that visibly press down upon it, which is a literal rendering of the weight of expectation that defines much of contemporary life. Within those boxes, the imagery shifts and overlaps food, agriculture, material desire and luxury, all coexisting in the same visual space. It’s a deliberate choice, one that captures how something as fundamental as nourishment can sit uneasily alongside excess and aspiration.
- Explores the blurred line between basic human needs and modern-day aspiration.
- Human figure symbolically burdened beneath stacked boxes, representing societal expectation.
- Imagery within the boxes spans food, agriculture, material desire and luxury, collapsing need and excess into one frame.
- Examines invisible structural forces such as social expectation, consumer culture and economic pressure.
- Figure depicted as neither fully trapped nor fully free but existing within a system it has helped shape.
- Prompts reflection on where genuine need ends and self-imposed bondage begins.
About the studio
Bandana Jain Studio is a contemporary art and material research practice exploring material, memory, consumption and sustainability. It transforms discarded materials into sculptural forms and installations, giving them new meaning while retaining traces of their original identity rather than treating waste as mere recycling. Working across art, design and engineering, the studio examines how material choices shape objects, spaces and everyday life, questioning consumption systems through contemporary artistic expression.
About the artist
Bandana Jain is a contemporary artist and material researcher driven by ongoing curiosity about materials and their possibilities. Her practice merges art, design and material exploration, often starting with overlooked, ordinary materials, using sculpture and installations to explore memory, consumption and everyday life. Rooted in observation and experimentation, her work has grown across exhibitions, commissions and collaborations, and is guided by one question: how can a material carry new meaning?
Details
Studio: Bandana Jain Studio
Designer: Bandana Jain
Contact: 7021618667
Email: contact@bandanajain.com
Website: www.bandanajain.com