Every stitch is a prick...

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