Vikram Kushwah (B.1983) The Twins and the Green Car 01

Vikram Kushwah (B.1983) The Twins and the Green Car 01 archival ink jet, framed 124 x 101cm (48 13/16 x 39 3/4in). Footnotes: 'As people generally grow up they leave parts of their childhood behind because they enter the adult world. It never lost its appeal to me; that kind of daydreaming and magic. The only difference is, now, I have a medium to express and create it on my own.'' Somewhere along the foothills of the Himalayas is a boarding school which provided much scope for Vikram Kushwah's imagination. The camera is Kushwah's medium to bring his daydreams to life. Shortlisted by the National Portrait Gallery, London, for the Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2019, and Portrait of Britain 2018 and 2019 winner—his compositions are where Pre-Raphaelite paintings and Deborah Turbeville's mysterious scapes meet. In 2023, Kushwah's work appeared in Coca-Cola's 'Masterpiece' global campaign, joining five contemporary artists alongside works by Van Gogh, Andy Warhol, Turner, Vermeer, and Munch. Kushwah's work for the auction, titled 'The Twins and the Green Car - 01', intertwines his childhood reveries and tales by Enid Blyton with his adult autonomy to bring his long-held visions to life. 'I was thinking about the kind of mischief I would get into during summer holidays.' He also reminisces about summer months in India, when he would sleep in the backseat of his classroom or dream away. 'I think it also has a bit to do with chemistry classes because I enjoyed bubbling liquids. Colourful chemicals really captivated my imagination as a child, even though the theory part of chemistry was so boring. It was a proper summer daydream for me,' he says. Captured in Oxfordshire, he initially desired to feature the 1963 Volkswagen Beetle from the Herbie films he adored as a child, but despite his fervent search, it eluded his lens. 'During my research, I came across this Figaro. I thought it looked like Herbie's cousin.' In 1991, Nissan unveiled the Figaro, fashioned to embody the aesthetics of the 1950s, with a production of 20,073 units. The setting shown in the photograph was where Kushwah regularly indulged in tranquil evening strolls with his dogs. The forest created a green canvas. 'Against this green canvas, I could create brilliant colours. The car was driven from London to this forest in Oxfordshire. All of this coming together in a small forest was just in itself such an adventure,' he reflects. At the delicate age of two and a few months short of three, Kushwah's parents, residing in a village in rural Uttar Pradesh, made a life-changing decision for little Vikram. Upon witnessing the state of local village life, they chose to part with their inheritance and ancestral property to send him to boarding school. 'There was a big divide between my school and home lives because of economics—this was an elite boarding school.' For the latter part of his life, he would go on to visit his parents twice every year, for his summer and winter holidays. 'I was raised in a way where I saw both sides of life. On one side I had everything, and on the other side I had very little,' he says. Upon completing his schooling, Kushwah relocated to Bangalore, India, for college. There, he serendipitously encountered a brief module on photography, and was never found without a camera again. 'I used to miss my fashion classes and just be taking photos outside.' For his final internship in college, he moved to Mumbai, India, for a year-long stint to assist a photographer. Soon, he unburied a profound desire to engage with the medium beyond the prescribed boundaries of what he was told it could be. He subsequently proceeded with his post-graduate diploma in photography at the London College of Communication in 2008, and an MA in photography at the University for the Creative Arts, Rochester in 2010. 'At university, we had such rich resources of books, videos, and films. I spent a lot of time studying, and of course, walking aimlessly with my camera–taking pictures of everything that caught my attention.' For several years now, Kushwah has regularly contributed to Vogue magazine. Kushwah's process of taking photographs begins before he picks up the camera. 'I'm quite a daydreamer. I don't know where the time goes. I sit in the afternoon in the sun and just stare into nothingness and dream. I think it is during these times that the visuals come to me.' He says a lot of it has to do with his time at boarding school which had many wooded areas. 'I would just run free, wild everywhere.' Grimms' Fairy Tales by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm retained a special place in his childhood treasury. 'As people generally grow up they leave parts of their childhood behind because they enter the adult world. It never lost its appeal to me; that kind of daydreaming and magic. The only difference is, now, I have a medium to express and create on my own,' he concludes. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing