Meet Ashoke Chhabra of Los Angeles

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ashoke Chhabra.

Hi Ashoke, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Born. Pasadena. 1961

Where to begin? Such is the conundrum of one whose career as taken any number of twists and turns over the years. I once attended university, I was once a musician. I once studied music with British post-war composer Peter Racine Fricker. I once endeavored to open and operate a recording studio. I once sat down to write a 800 page novel. I once had a 5 year plan to completely remodel the house I am lucky enough to call home. I am currently, and have been for the last 30 odd years, a maker of sculptural objects that employ light as their most distinctive feature.
The point at which I am now is the result of countless hours of study and innumerable more spent acquiring the skills required to realize my vision. I am entirely self taught in this regard but no less impoverished for that distinction. Such a path has resulted in unique and unexpected outcomes, ones that a more traditional approach may have not afforded me.
Time came when I began to exhibit my work. Overtime I worked up the nerve to enter more prestigious shows and platforms in order to further my practice. In 1999 I was chosen to show as part of the “Elizabeth Raphael Founders Prize” exhibit held at the Pittsburgh Center for Contemporary Craft. Not only was it my first major show but its juror happened to be an artist I greatly admired. Wendall Castle was a figure that loomed large as I began my career. Indeed I borrowed many techniques gleaned from magazine and newspaper articles highlighting his career and working methods. He was a teacher even If I never set foot in a classroom with the guy. Having such a figure single out my work my work for inclusion in this particular show was a big deal. Any doubt I harbored up until that point largely vanished. I felt vindicated.
I now consider myself a mature artist. I can clearly trace a path of my development from that of upstart, trying to find my voice, to the more experienced artist of today. I am immensely proud of what I have been able to achieve and plan on continuing to pursue my craft from my studio in Los Angeles.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
A glorious struggle. These 3 words have come to sum up the creative process as drawn from my own experience. This notion is never more apparent than when, upon the completion of a project, an overwhelming sense of accomplishment washes over you. All is forgiven. This might explain the freakish efforts many creatives endure in order to realize their vision. It certainly helps explains mine. How can it be otherwise? That adversity should figure into the birth of ideas, especially the good ones, is to be expected.
It would be easy to cast the narrative in a more despairing tone but the lesson here is that the creative process, despite its demands, is both a forgiving as well as rewarding one. Thats not to say that I haven’t experienced periods of difficulty. Perhaps the most trying of these were those times when I was simply unable to create for one reason or another. This may have been due to upheavals such as a move or loss of workspace. It can lead to feeling of being unmoored from that which gave life pleasure and meaning. Then there are the fleeting grievances that arise from misplaced envy. Such a one might stem from viewing the work space of an artist whose impressive surroundings might be said to exemplify that of a successful artisan. Mine by contrast are humble, dusty, and unkempt.
Alas I am blithering. Once I begin to work the outside world melts away. But for the incessant pinging of my phone I have nothing to complain about.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Good Ideas don’t happen very often. At least for me they don’t. By my reckoning I have have 2 so far in my career as a artist. You will know them firstly by the strong emotional response they elicit and secondly by how they endure. In my experience they show up following persistent efforts before yielding anything of note. Then, when least expected, some novel concept reveals itself. Such moments are rare and can be difficult to recall with any clarity. Such is the mystery surrounding their conception. What follows is a brief description of one such event the likes of which altered the course of all future efforts as a creative.
At present I consider myself a sculptor. The primary mediums I employ are wood and acrylic. Having once made furniture I naturally gravitated toward a material with which I was familiar. Wood especially, with its inherent warmth, malleability, strength, abundance, has proved more than adequate when It came to realizing the forms I have in mind.
More by accident than design I found myself labeled an abstract artist. I am fine with this label but am in no way bound by it. I have on occasion applied the design elements that distinguish my conceptual works and reimagined them as functional pieces. The practice of doing so has allowed me to move seamlessly between, and gain distinction within, the worlds of art, craft and design.
The use of lighting of one sort or another has figure large in the scope of my work. Why Lighting? Lights are beacons. They draw our gaze. They are dynamic. I have since sought to leverage this quality in order to captivate the viewer. I also feel it adds an etherial quality to forms that might otherwise appear static, cold, and detached.
Most of what I make is fabricated from baltic birch plywood. Besides being an extremely robust and stable wood product it effortless lends itself to the construction methods I have come to utilize.
The unique profiles of all my work is a direct consequence of a modular form of construction in which a single component forms the basis of all objects created. Only the scale of each is allowed to vary. These are stacked up, twisted or reversed in many cases, all depending on the shape I’m after. The one begets the creation of the next. The end result is any number of skeletal objects whose surface appears to be undulating rhythmically. This in particular is the result of twisting each segment before it is attached to its neighbor. I find this effect uniquely pleasing and have sought to make use of it in numerous works. Finally a light source is fitted within its hollow confines illuminating the finished article from within. The whole concept is deceptively simple and goes to show what can be achieved when a single motif is exploited with artistic intent.
I refer to this line of work as the “Chaos Series” of light objects. Since its inception in 2018 I have traded on its potential to create a growing body of work. To this day I find the confluence of angles that characterize each creation oddly enchanting. I continue to exhibit regularly and have always found the feedback I receive overwhelmingly positive. Unless a third good Idea should avail itself I will continue to mine my current practice to the limits of its potential.

Alright so before we go can you talk to us a bit about how people can work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
Up until now I have resisted the urge to team up with other artists on a project. I have been approached but politely declined such offers. In each instant the prospect of collaboration was simply never as enticing as the work in front of me. Or so I told myself. I have often wondered why. Why did view such offers as a distraction rather than the opportunities for growth they could be?
Could it stem from the fact that I was largely self taught? I did not come up in a tradition where ideas were exchanged or debuted. For as long as I can remember I have arrived at my best ideas by my own efforts rather than consensus. I have become comfortable with this way of working along with the incredible freedom it afforded me. It mostly worked and I saw no point in changing this approach. I am however currently in process of revisiting this stance.
Of late I have toyed with the thought of realizing my sculptural forms in materials other than wood. By this I mean bronze, steel or concrete, materials that would be suitable for public outdoor environments. I am keen to make a move in this direction and hope to do so at some point in the future.
In the meantime I would welcome the chance to start a dialogue with an artist, person, or organization who possess experience in the area. To have a work permanently installed in a public space in presently on my bucket list. It might take my practice to a new level, opening up untapped revenue streams, as well as burnishing my reputation as an artist.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.ashokechhabra.com
• Instagram: @ashokachhabra

Image Credits
Images 1- 6. Ron Luxemburg Photography

Images 7-8 Upgraded Images