Leave Me My Own World
Copper with 24-carat gold leaf, antique and patina finish
4 x 34 x 26 inch 27 kg
The work takes shape around the necessity of inner space. A solitary seated figure rests within a circular copper form, its interior lined with gold leaf that catches and softens light rather than reflecting it outward. The gold’s assertion loses itself; it creates a chamber of warmth, an atmosphere of containment. Scale plays a decisive role here - the figure is modest, almost withdrawn, while the surrounding form becomes a world unto itself, enclosing thought, silence, and pause.
Gupta’s reflections on solitude surface gently through the work. Inspired by the life of his poet friend Germain, who inhabits a quiet world with his wife Lilian, the sculpture speaks of mental landscapes shaped by attentiveness rather than retreat. Solitude here is neither isolation nor escape; it is a chosen condition in which one remains present to oneself. The seated figure does not perform meditation - it inhabits it, held in balance by the surrounding form.
The circular enclosure functions as a threshold between outer noise and inner clarity, suggesting that a personal world is to be quietly sustained. The work asks for no spectacle. It offers a cosmos where thought can settle, where one breath is enough, and where the act of being alone becomes a way of staying whole.
