My art practice is marked by strategies of collecting and re-imagining stories from different societies and cultures. Histories, personal and community myths, ritualistic practices, and fantastic elements have always resided in the areas of my interest. My practice deals with studying the influences of post-truth realities and the construction of myth with its subsequent effect on the behaviors of local communities.
My art practice also articulates the friction between traditional beliefs and urban life as they come to terms with each other. I question the role of myths and traditional tales and their role in contemporary modern Indian social reality and instigation of intolerance and violence.
In my recent project named “Kal Hi Sawal Hai! Sawal Hai Kalka Yahi!” deals with the idea of “safety” in this crucial time of pandemic and lockdown. It underlines the newly generated meanings of safeness in terms of the psychological, physical, and socio-political structure of current Indian Society. The work stands as a creation of theatrical dramas of fantasy, where the current societal structure is mirrored to elaborate the various perspectives about life by the common people. Through the various actions by the fantasy characters, various awakened emotions of fear, numbness, anxiety, anger are re-created which were manipulated by the media, government, and the restricted space for a longer period of time through artists’ self-experienced perspectives.
In ‘The Factory of Undefined Souls’, the fantasy factory is structured to serve as hypothetical reasoning for the manipulated, violent and unethical acts of the people during this crucial time of lockdown. The space of the factory is inspired by the various departments of the government offices as multiple units/workshops of the factory. The work represents an amalgamation of mythology and fantasy on the grounds of real experiences and observations. It also showcases the increasing dependence of the common people on the Government and its effects through their behaviors and thoughts.
“Don’t Look with Anger! It May Catch Fire”, is a set of drawings showcasing ten different stories collected from the villagers about the same incident where the house was set on fire and demolished by the villagers. These stories were passed down from generations and collected through interviews and archives available from the village. The drawings are associated with the hidden stories drafted around with typo-prints. The authenticity of the incidents are kept up to the viewers and their perspectives towards these stories.
