Dipika Kohli
5/7/10 1:42 PM
Ah, the wonders of the Sharpie. Such a simple instrument, yet so many possibilities, especially in the hands of Dipika Kohli. A graphic designer by training, Kohli has a witty, abbreviated sensibility perfectly in tune with her medium of choice. With it she silhouettes the world, at least the world as seen from one’s own front door, both facing in and facing out. Rooftops, papers on a desk, the corner of an apartment, an array of objects, a spoken phrase, a bunch of flowers—all find bold and punchy expression through Kohli’s simple black marker line drawings. What takes these catchy pictures further than mere amiableness are the kinds of subtle twists most apparent in Kohli’s zines, where she displays a wry sense of her own field and life. Made primarily from cut-up glossy magazine pages, these collage books are both funny and critical, diaristic and transparent. One even shows marker lines atop found images, revealing the source and process of her own style. How this all translates into hired work for her graphic design clients I have no idea, but I suspect it translates just fine—in our world of irony upon irony, self-reflexivity and critical consumerism can now be used to sell everything from iPods to iGO car shares.
—Lori Waxman
Ah, the wonders of the Sharpie. Such a simple instrument, yet so many possibilities, especially in the hands of Dipika Kohli. A graphic designer by training, Kohli has a witty, abbreviated sensibility perfectly in tune with her medium of choice. With it she silhouettes the world, at least the world as seen from one’s own front door, both facing in and facing out. Rooftops, papers on a desk, the corner of an apartment, an array of objects, a spoken phrase, a bunch of flowers—all find bold and punchy expression through Kohli’s simple black marker line drawings. What takes these catchy pictures further than mere amiableness are the kinds of subtle twists most apparent in Kohli’s zines, where she displays a wry sense of her own field and life. Made primarily from cut-up glossy magazine pages, these collage books are both funny and critical, diaristic and transparent. One even shows marker lines atop found images, revealing the source and process of her own style. How this all translates into hired work for her graphic design clients I have no idea, but I suspect it translates just fine—in our world of irony upon irony, self-reflexivity and critical consumerism can now be used to sell everything from iPods to iGO car shares.
—Lori Waxman
