Her:
Within and without, an
ongoing exhibition at Monalisa Kalagram, is
a collaborative project. A collaboration between a ceramist and a
photographer. It is a collaboration between two generations, two
approaches, two realities, two working processes. The journey began
with a set of eight photographs that were to be archived or
discarded. This set of photographs capture a woman whisking a quilt
while standing outside her semi-pucca house. There is a series of
photographs capturing that very moment. It gives an impression of a
flip-book with a sequence of actions unfolding through these eight
photographs. One after the other, the photographs capture the
movement of hands, folds of the quilt, stitches on the quilt creating
intricate patterns, the female body almost hiding behind the twirling
quilt. The quilt becomes a site, to be explored, to be looked at, to
be engaged with. It is a site of memories and stories, warmth and
care, private space and community activity but also a trope of
physical labour, perserverence and recycling.
Old,
fragile fabric is revived through the process of quilt making. Rather
than merely bringing godhadi
from private space to public viewing space, Ruby
and Shraddha apply its technique to different materials while
emphasising on essential elements and characteristic features of the
process of quilt making. Though their journey confines to the
exploration of mediums and techniques, a wonderful amalgamation of
them takes the viewer inside the weaves and textures of these works.
The weave is so seamless that one gets buried inside the spectacle of
moving, wavy forms and lustre porcelain. They explore the interface
between ceramics, photography and stitching, between two dimensional
photographic prints on cloth, vinyl, paper and three dimensional
ceramic tiles, installations. This process in a way negotiates
hierarchies between sculpting, glazing, printing,
knitting, sewing and photographing.
Ruby
and Shraddha challenge themselves experimenting with various
techniques from ceramics to photography to textiles. Even doing so
they move away from conventional techniques of each medium. For
example, Mirror Work I &
II are
prints on vinyl where the image of the woman with pink quilt is
played with. It is blurred, diffused, pixelated, sharpened at varying
levels. The image merges with the reflection of the viewer creating
an illusion of mirror where the viewer can actually identify with his
or her own self as well as with the 'other'.
The
quilt itself becomes a motif that is replicated in various forms
throughout the exhibition. In Kadappa,
various shapes of the quilt are reproduced in ceramic along with
enlarged photographs. These shapes take fantastical iconographic
forms produced by undulations on the ceramic ware. These iconographic
expressions employ anthropomorphic forms to emphasize metaphors
relating to the organization of female body, its body parts,
interrelated painstaking acts of stitching, knitting and weaving.
Though, these forms leave doubts about the need to define the
anatomical body, curvilinear shapes and
their
juxtaposition with the photographic images of these formations placed
on a withering black kadappa.
Reflections
that Dawn are digital prints on
manjarpat cloth. A thin, coarse cloth that is almost perforated
through which one can see the shiny vinyl sheet as a backdrop
displaying layers of imageries of the female body and the quilt. This
private array of dreamlike figures and symbols, are at once instantly
recognizable and inimitably her own. What is interesting here is the
use of manjarpat cloth which invokes colonial history and its
connection with a particular class who could afford the cheap,
not-so-fine manchester cloth. So ultimately, the focus of the artists
lies on co-option of materials and mediums without probing into what
the material actually conveys.
Along
with originals, different elements from those photos appear in the
exhibition space – stitches, needles, footwear, quilt,
threads, hoops, spools that are magnified on the scale of the
installation titled The
Fabric of the Day that
occupies the central space in the gallery where functional
and familial aspects of quilt and quilt-making are explored further
through various mediums. The Fabric of
the Day has three layers to it:
Firstly, The Running Stitch is
a repetition at regular intervals where the material complements the
language of running stitch while creating a mesh of stitches made out
of terracotta capsule-like channels and cotton thread hanging from
the ceiling. The quilts could become a perverse inversion of the
symbol of domesticity and femininity. Although the sutured lines of
machine
embroidery go up and down creating
meander patterns on the delicate handmade
rice
paper do not allow those inversions
to happen, rather they reinforce the delicate femininity even with
the use of mechanised way of embroidering and pattern making.
Secondly, The
Hanging Needles is
a symbolic representation of needles
and homage to the craft of needle work. Though needles are present
everywhere in the space along with photographic narratives, textile
constructions, flowing quilts, they seem to be devoid of
incisiveness. Finally, Y is
a curvilinear installation suggestive of conjuring activities of
stitching up wounds, memories, bodies, geographies, perceptions,
viewpoints. It is a collage of myriad techniques, objects, shapes and
forms that binds them together with a cotton thread while showcasing
them on one curvy armature resembling a
woven quilt. Joineries which bring together layers and colourful
pieces of cloths, ceramic tiles, threads creating various patterns
like godhadi bind
generations together and the running stitch
symbolizes this connection between people, human touch, shared
spaces, memories.
Though
the act of quilt making gets visibility through this project, the
women who are involved in this work remain on the periphery. On one
hand, their traditional skills are acquired and re-used by the
artists while emphasizing the intricacies of it and, on the other
hand, the role of these women remain almost invisible. Their skills
acquire value of art but only through the works of these artists. So
the questions that arise here are about the role of the artist,
collaborative process, dichotomy between art and craft and, also
between cerebral and skill-based art. Furthermore,
quilts are social documents and embody the history and values of
their silent makers. It is a way of reconnecting with the history but
also breaking away from it and venturing into a new domain of
contemporary arts while offering umpteen possibilities. I feel that
some
of the works are accompanied by explanatory text which may limit
countless ways in which one could interpret and engage with them.
Also, from private location when displayed in the gallery space,
these elements acquire new forms as well as meanings. For me, these
are representations of often disregarded bodies. The works lack that
connection and a convincing link between the sensation of prick,
presence of feminine gender and physical acts of producing large
scale works that represent minuscule objects like needles, threads
and buttons. Shraddha and Ruby attempt a strong reference by
articulating the expressive possibilities of the quilt but they need
to draw out visual connections that they wish to make in a more lucid
manner. Language of fabrics and textiles, desires and body need to
become more evident through these crafted arrangements. The
painstaking acts of stitching, weaving, cutting, mending become
metaphors for a labouring female body apart from tantalising and
sensual beauty of these forms. Taking up needle and thread is a
conscious act. Every stitch is a prick and each prick is a
provocation.
Photo courtesy: Shraddha Bhavalkar and Bhushan Deshmukh
