Artist converts online class experience into intriguing paintings

Artist and teacher Shalu Juneja’s ‘Zoom’ is a teacher’s perspective on virtual classes

An art work on the wall, a family photograph with faces that have grown familiar by now, a cat or the shadow of a human... such sights offered artist and teacher Shalu Juneja a peek into her students’ personal spaces, thanks to virtual classes. She found herself observing little details that almost began to define the spaces she saw on screen every day. Her recent series, ‘Zoom’, is a teacher’s perspective on virtual reality. As the co-director and founder of Uno Lona Academy for arts based in Ahmedabad, Shalu says her connection to her students was one of physicality that existed within a space. “Online classes changed the dynamics. Through these small windows, our personal spaces are revealed in seemingly distorted perspectives. As discomforting as it is, it creates a sense of voyeuristic intrigue,” she says.