“ The landscapes in Nikhil Chopra’s recent works are interrupted by the presence of his past selves. These meander, dwell or come to rest on these surfaces. Lost in thought, staring you in the eye or as apparitions, these are spirits of lives he’s embodied or engaged with in his durational performances over the decades. This presence ruptures the stillness of landscape paintings, as well as the linearity of time to provide a possibility - a portal for introspection and time travel – in retrospect and in the present.

The landscape is no longer lush and dreamy, it rages and burns to black under red-yellow flames and clouds of grey. Fires burn to remind us of primitivity, of coming together and warmth, of invention, but also war and strife, and natural disaster. Charcoal then, a product of charred trees, remains a medium close to this destruction of the pastoral and natural worlds. “

- Mario D’Souza