Poojan Gupta

The relationship between minimalist art, the environmental impact of medical science, and my Hindu upbringing are the three elements that drive my creative practice. They do not exactly sit comfortably together, but they do constitute my identity as a contemporary Indian artist. As my career has developed across Jaipur, Santiniketan, London, and Oxford, I have found a way to embrace the pressure of present-day environmental anxieties, the unrecognised beauty of everyday objects, and the transformational experience of ritual that is my Indian birthright. I bring all this together creatively using a medium that might seem unlikely—the plastic dosage trays that help us self-administer medication.

Contemporary sculpture and installation art make disposable packaging no longer disposable. Once the empty pill packets have been transformed in this way, all kinds of sensorial encounters follow, adding value to something that had no value before. This difference is important if you are concerned about the amount of landfill generated by the global pharmaceutical industry. My artworks express not just how a creative person can transform these everyday artefacts, but also how mass-produced medication transforms our everyday lives—a crucial environmental insight.