C-lective Curator’s Cut:

The 5 A.M. Drive by Ajaya Bhatnagar captures a fleeting, liminal moment in San Francisco, rendered through an unexpected pixelated lens. Working with oil paint, plaster, and sculpting paste on canvas, Bhatnagar builds a richly textured surface that contrasts with the work’s digital-inspired geometry. Warm gradients of golden yellow, soft peach, and dusky lavender dissolve into cooler blues and purples, echoing the shifting light of dawn along San Francisco’s western edge. Suggestive of Ocean Beach or the Sunset District at first light, this early-career experiment nods to the city’s tech culture while evoking the quiet disorientation of being awake too early or out too late, when the city feels suspended in time.