IndiaPosted at: Nov 2 2026 4:44PM


Photographer Sarika Dandona explores hidden worlds in glass, ice and water through ‘Capturing the Multiverse’

Arti Bali
New Delhi, Nov 2 (UNI) Fine art photographer Sarika Dandona is exploring the hidden visual worlds within everyday materials such as glass, ice, water and weathered surfaces through her photographic exhibition, 'Capturing the Multiverse,' bringing together art, science and the philosophy of perception.
Using macro photography, light, reflections, and unusual angles, Dandona transforms familiar objects into images that recall geological landscapes, neural networks and distant planetary formations. She began photographing in 2007.
Dandona, whose photographic journey began in 2007, uses macro photography, light, reflections and unusual perspectives to transform familiar objects into abstract images that evoke everything from geological landscapes and neural networks to distant planetary formations.
Dandona said her work is driven by curiosity about what lies beneath the visible surface of ordinary things, adding that photography has gradually evolved from a means of recording images into a tool for discovery.
"What inspired me is the possibility that multiple realities could coexist within the same material and the same field of vision. The closer we look, the more layers emerge," she said, explaining the philosophy behind the exhibition.
Her journey into photography began unexpectedly during a visit to Appu Ghar with members of the Delhi Fotographers Club, whose encouragement prompted her to experiment with the camera. What started as a casual interest gradually developed into an artistic pursuit.
Her academic and professional experiences have also shaped her visual approach. Trained in medical biotechnology at AIIMS and microbiology at Delhi University, Dandona said her scientific background had taught her to observe structures and patterns that are not immediately visible. Her experience in journalism further strengthened her instinct to question what lies beneath the obvious, while her work as a healthcare entrepreneur exposed her to complex and constantly evolving systems.
"I don't necessarily begin by looking for a particular image. I begin with curiosity," she said, describing how an unusual fracture in glass, a fluid distortion or an unexpected interaction of light with a surface could become the starting point for an image.
She said materials often reveal entirely different visual identities when observed closely or from unfamiliar angles.
"We tend to assign objects a fixed identity. Glass is glass, ice is ice, and water is water. But when you change your proximity to them and observe how light interacts with them, they begin to reveal other possibilities," she said.
Dandona primarily works with macro photography, experimenting with lighting, framing, reflections, movement and the physical properties of different materials. She said the transformations in her photographs emerge from real physical phenomena rather than digital manipulation or artificial intelligence.
"I am not constructing imaginary worlds digitally or using AI to generate abstraction. The visual possibilities emerge through my engagement with the material and are captured in-camera," she said.
For her, the artistic process lies in recognising the moment when an ordinary object begins to suggest an entirely different visual language.
"An image becomes a work of art for me when it moves beyond being an interesting visual record and begins to invite sustained looking, interpretation and discovery," she said.
A self-taught photographer, Dandona said her visual language had evolved through years of observation, experimentation and independent exploration rather than formal artistic training. She believes this has allowed her to move beyond conventional photographic categories and develop an individual approach to abstraction, scale and material perception.
The exhibition also challenges the conventional presentation of photography as framed prints on paper. Dandona experiments with surfaces such as glass, concrete, and canvas, treating the material carrying the image as an integral part of the artistic experience.
"Glass introduces associations with transparency, reflection and fragility. Concrete brings a sense of mass, permanence and architectural presence," she said, adding that the relationship between the photographic image and its physical surface creates another layer of perception.
She sees this approach as an expansion of photography, allowing it to engage with architecture, material culture and installation while remaining rooted in the physical world.
The concept of the multiverse, she said, is not limited to the scientific theory of parallel universes but also reflects the multiple ways in which reality can be experienced and interpreted.
A photograph of fractured glass, for instance, could remind one viewer of a river system, another of a neural network and someone else of a geological fault line.
"All these responses are valid because they emerge from the viewer's own memories, associations, and imagination," she said.
Dandona is also interested in interconnectedness and impermanence, observing how patterns and structures recur across different materials and scales. The microscopic can resemble the cosmic, while fractures, fluid forms and melting surfaces can evoke landscapes, biological growth or planetary movement.
She said she hoped the exhibition would encourage visitors to move beyond familiar ways of seeing and approach the world with renewed curiosity.
"I would like people to leave with the feeling that reality is rarely singular. There are other ways of seeing, other connections to discover, and other worlds waiting to be revealed within the familiar," she said.
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