Historically, the body has been controlled and manipulated to fit several political, cultural and sometimes even banal contexts. Through my explorations, I pose a question on the conundrum of the body as a living organism and a body that loses its signifying behavioral elements; reduced to a number and tool, regulated by its mechanical efficiency. The works elaborate on behaviors and transfigurations of a docile body that shifts to a dictated one. Exploring ideas around the gesture, space and the self, my bodies subsume regimented yet lyrical compositions. While my initial grid drawings included repeated figures equally distant from one another, more recent developments have used the figure in relation to the grid, keeping in mind basic perspective. Horizon drawings allude to the apparent line that separates the collective body from an authoritative one. Viewed from different perspectives, the works highlight our nuanced dance with power. The viewer can see this shift through the use of an imaginary line and the gesture of each figure.
In 2019, after I concluded a series called ‘Assembly Line’, I worked on a supplementary drawing, a practice that I follow post each series. What came out of the series was a drawing called ‘One arm distance’, where my figures perform the regulatory gesture of a school assembly line. I became interested in the idea of the body becoming a tool, a unit of measurement and regulated by its mechanical efficiency.
Initially, I was interested in the idea of the body being used as a unit of measurement. Gradually I started to find an interest in the gesture performed by the body and how that contributes to the minute variations in composition. This led me to work with the body in relation to the framework of a grid. While the grid serves as a supporting visual structure, symmetric and asymmetric configurations of the body express the intention of the drawing. The use of graph paper recalls the material used in school. The specific gestures in the drawings are that of being punished, being in positions of power and in some cases gestures of disobedience. The act of drawing repeated figures reiterates the act of repeating tasks until one gets external approval.
Furthermore, colour holds a significant place in my work. In the past three years, I have primarily been working with blue tones and earth tones. The blue figures draw from the ideas of negotium, while the earth tones draw from the ideas of otium.* The number, as well as the gesture of figures, I draw in each composition contributes to transforming the way we see colour on the grid. In my current body of work, I am exploring the transformative quality of colour with respect to the figure and the grid.
During an ordinary week, I work on multiple projects that require me to draw from different dispositions and skill sets. This enables an organic shift from creating work with sameness and creating something new.
I tend to deliberate over and explore the widest form a series of drawings can take and then start creating work. I think of my works more like configurations, where several parts of different things are brought together. I enjoy testing the finished permutations, combinations and possibilities a work has to offer and only then move on to the next series.
*Otium and Negotium, The ancient Roman art of peak performance. Otium, described a contemplative way of life in the countryside. Its opposite was negotium, which referred to negotiation, business, and the conditions of city life.
