Bringing it home by Tamzin Lewis, The Journal Culture, January 2006, p.41

Nisha Duggal describes herself as a jack of all trades and a master of none.  She works with video, sound, drawing and photography.  From Newcastle, Nisha returned to the North-East after graduating from the University of Derby in Fine Art.  She works part time at a trade magazine and has organised exhibitions in the city.

"I haven't shown my work in the North-East much prior to this show, I have shown elsewhere in the country and in Canada.  In the art world, art which isn't local can seem more exciting."

Nisha looks outside the artworld for inspiration which she admits might be seen as wierd.  She says: "I am really interested in popular science books and I get ideas for titles from pop science.  As an artist you have a specific way of looking at the world and looking at non-art things gives me specific ideas.

"I work in lots of different mediums which means that I can be really fluid in what I do.  For me it is about ideas and concepts rather than formal rigour and aesthetic talent."

Nisha is showing three sketches, two videos and a sound piece in You Shall Know Our Velocity.

"When I work on a long-term project I willl do sketches quite quickly and cheaply, " she says.  "The three ideas I am showing work quite well together.  I always thought that a good artist shoud be able to make work on a shoe-string budget."

The sound piece is an artistic three minute pop song called 'Things some people should have in common', which will be played in the cafe on headphones.

Nisha says: "I am interested in games and leisure pursuits.  This is about vegetables, based on a game which I used to play with housemates when I was a student.  When we were bored we would talk about what our favourite vegetables were.  So it is funny but quite endearing."

Also showing is 'Wish List', a text and video piece to the sound of a marching band drum beat.  "The text is quite whimsical.  It is a list of wishes, while the music is quite militant.  I like the juxtaposition of different elements.  I try and bring disparate parts of my life together.  I do sing on my work but I am quite a bad singer, but like the idea of amateurism: being bad at something but trying."

Nisha's second video is 'The Avoidance of Narrative', a text piece also based on games.
       

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