In my work, I navigate a spectrum of artistic mediums encompassing performance, photography, sculptural objects, instinctual drawings, and texts. In the process, these different genres of mediums converge upon each other to help construct a visual narrative or to look for an entirety of subjects that are between the domains of life and art, wherein each reinforces the other in the perpetual act of image creation.
My artistic journey commenced with a foundation in theatre and performance which allowed me to explore body abstractions, the profundity of the subconscious, and the embodiment of archetypal images related to bodily autonomy. More recently, my intuitive and evidence–based research praxis have gravitated towards the crossroads of materiality, the ephemeral aspects of the human, non-human body-mind, and the expansive narratives that link the human form with the broader context of terrestrial landscapes.
My exploration of diverse artistic media constitutes an enduring quest for self-discovery and a thought-provoking engagement with the world. I found that each artistic medium possesses a unique perspective and an independent expressive capacity, contributing synergistically to a holistic narrative. These materials harbor latent archetypes, emotions, and potentialities that imbue context with depth and richness.
My fascination resides in the boundless horizons unveiled through the exploration of the (non)-(human) and its ecological realms. Within this immersive journey, what I am trying to craft is a unique world by stitching the fabrics of sensory perception and experiential engagement, conjuring a tapestry of limitless possibilities.
At the heart of my exploration, the essential element of mobility serves as a foundational principle. This concept spans various domains, encompassing the biological, cosmological, metaphysical, and philosophical dimensions of mobility. It is deeply embedded in the expansive realms of the body, identity, material cultures, socio-political, personal experiences, and location-specific geographical memories.
In today’s pivotal junctures of the enforcement of nationalist border controls, pervasive surveillance systems, censorships, and the escalating occurrence of political imprisonment all over the world resulting in loss of data, challenges related to accessibility, domestic strife, diplomatic breakdowns, and war that creates emotional turmoil, and loss of life of ordinary civilians. A state of life in these situations could be arresting and isolating. One could feel like a dot in an infinitely diverse universe, vulnerable yet full of potentialities with immense qualities of unearthed energies. Mobility in this aspect is both an inception and resistance. In this context, the enduring and overarching significance of mobility, as I am attempting to express through diverse forms, genres, and mediums, with the inherent conflicts it embodies, continues to serve as a driving force in my artistic endeavors.
The concept of the traveling performer inspires me from my early memories of the traveling cycle circus community that used to come to my village; other than that, the means of mobility is very political in our contemporary society. The notions of traveling or movement or flow, a motionless state yet fast-moving infinite borderless temporalities in the universe, in conjunction with man-made socio-political borders and its technological ecosystems. The mass-produced implications of it emerge as a continuous momentum of forced freedom within our daily lives which provokes me to contemplate this intricate relationship between mobility and the myths it engenders, encompassing a diverse range of entities, from human bodies to more-than-human beings. This exploration takes place through the act of movement within the interconnected ecologies that define both the existent and not yet existent; the tangible and the intangible paradigms. Here, the performer not only experiments with movements in moving-breathing time-space-locations but also collects corporal and scientific memorabilia of what else moves autonomously; they are also tackled by the questions of why we feel motionless or dreaded or restricted while moving through the various dimensions of border spiritually or physically. Why does our primordial and vital quality of movements become ironically restrictive and at the same time feel forced? The answers are everywhere, we experience it, but at the same time questioning as a way of sociological geo-political critique navigates us to different modes and alternatives of mobility in a challenged landscape.
In my artistic journey, I view performance as a continuous and evolving process, one that unfurls in a myriad of ways across diverse cultural and social landscapes. I intend to encourage spectators to discern that our everyday movements, gestures, and interactions are, at their core, forms of performance. Each of these actions carries a profound layer of meaning and significance.
The concept of movement encapsulates a nuanced and multifaceted notion, encompassing both freedom and oppression. This concept extends beyond physical relocation, encompassing mental and spiritual mobility. The underlying premise is that movement serves as a potent vehicle for cultural expression. Across different societies and cultural contexts, specific movements and gestures bear unique and profound meanings and significance. These cultural movements evolve into a distinct form of language, enabling individuals to communicate, express their identities, and engage with their communities.
The intricate forms and material manifestations associated with these movements in various cultures are not only cathartic but also serve as conveyors of historical narratives, social rituals, and personal stories. This cultural dimension of mobility underscores how movement molds our comprehension of the world and our place within it.
Within his Performance Theory, Richard Schechner astutely acknowledges that our manner of movement, bodily gestures, and the environments we traverse all play pivotal roles in formulating our identities. This encompasses various facets, such as our gender, race, and societal roles. Movements intertwined with particular identities possess the capacity to either bolster or confront prevailing societal conventions and expectations. Through these embodied performances, individuals actively navigate their sense of self and partake in the intricate interplay of cultural, social, and personal identities.
The notion of mobility as a manifestation of freedom is all-encompassing, encapsulating our capacity to make choices and take action in various dimensions of life. Physical mobility affords us the freedom to explore diverse places and experiences, while mental and emotional mobility empowers us to think, feel, and make decisions. This concept emerges from the inherent tension between our quest for meaning and the seemingly inherent meaninglessness of the universe.
In the face of this existential absurdity, our freedom to choose and move assumes particular significance. Conversely, constrained and limited by the existence of societal policies governing infrastructures, marked by their restricted range and tension, it can effectively serve as symbols of the experience of oppression.
The medium of movement holds the potential to be a powerful instrument for both reflecting and articulating the continual transformations that mold our lives and societies. In this context, movement transcends mere physical expression, evolving into a metaphorical language that conveys broader notions, such as growth and evolution.
Audacity of vulnerability, 2021 (moving image/video)
During a long journey across five central, east, and northeast Indian states, I realized a pattern of connections internally established towards nomad musicians, solitudes/melancholy about sound. I experienced their music encompassing their spirits and their altitudes of belonging. I recognized a profound relationship with nature, myth, and phantoms in their presence. A very fragile yet profound interaction with something or someone., – (un)known, the distorted voices, stretched visuals, and sounds in between is an invitation to recognize the void in our lives when we deeply desire these subverted rhymes and pinning silence create wormholes to destroy the time.
This moving image work is a culminating chapter of the series titled A Salt Tree Mirage.
