A significant throughline in Metamorphosis is PNC’s use of contrast—not only in his monochromatic works but in the juxtaposition of rigid architectural elements with organic, fluid forms.
His more recent pieces demonstrate a pronounced engagement with surrealist spatiality, where anatomical structures mutate into landscapes and vice versa. With the use of elements that evoke the iridescence of nature’s most fleeting marvels, these motifs are not illustrative but symbolic, charged with an underlying poetics of becoming. The butterfly—delicate yet enduring—emerges as a recurring symbol and central metaphor associated with transcendence. It reminds us that even the most fragile forms carry histories of strength. The monarch butterfly, in particular, resonates as a totem of migration, survival, and cyclical change. Its presence is not sentimental, but emblematic of a deeper inquiry into what it means to evolve, to suffer, and to emerge altered—yet persistently human.
Across the exhibition, the human form is a locus of uncertainty and introspection, presented not as stable or singular, but as an assemblage- stitched together from memory, sensation and contradiction. His figures are marked by inquiry: bodies that carry mechanisms—nuts, bolts, screws— not as prosthetics of permanence, but as temporary anchors in a state of flux. These mechanical appendages suggest repair, adaptation, and the impossibility of a fixed identity. Here, fragmentation is not decay, but a method of survival. The grotesque surfaces in his practice not as a distortion, but as a curatorial device—an aesthetic strategy that resists closure and embraces ambiguity. Chaturvedi’s imagery flickers between the familiar and the uncanny, allowing each work to operate as a site of tension: between adornment and asceticism, motion and static, nature and industry.
Wires and sockets— symbols of connectivity and control—serve both as constraints and conduits, underscoring the dualities within each piece. In this intimate conversation, Phaneendra Nath Chaturvedi reflects on 25 years of his practice—tracing the emotional, philosophical, and spiritual threads that shape his work. From the quiet influence of Banaras and childhood memories to the recurring symbolism of the body, wings, and the butterfly, he explores transformation, detachment, and the coexistence of beauty and chaos. Rooted in personal experience and guided by a deep connection to material and memory, his art becomes a visual biography—an ongoing journey of becoming.
Metamorphosis, a solo exhibition by Phaneendra Nath Chaturvedi, presented by Black Cube Gallery and curated by Sanya Malik took place at Bikaner House in May 2025 and later the extetion was showcased at Black Cube Gallery
