Home away from home

Kochi Biennale

A place at the place

There are several elements and mediums that I use to represent the core of my beliefs, and which I bring as a common thread to all my art. Through the prism of art, these mediums have become metaphors for my message. One of these is my hands : they represent the screen through which I see life. Hands and their function in someone’s life reflect their psychology and inner attitude. Whether we see hands that work, dig and plant on the Earth, hands in rituals, or hands in movement ; the hands bring the inner essence to work. They are the fabric of human labour.
The recurring element that I find myself exploring oftentimes is colour, also texture ; these two elements add identity. Observing how these elements embedded in their cultural symbolism are routinely used and expressed by the people I interact with, has guided me and become the substance of inspiration for my philosophy and in the creation of my artwork. At the source, becoming enveloped in culture and a part of people’s experience is what I seek to share and portray in my art and is also what depicts the core of my swadharma, Home away from home.

Home away from Home

Organic indigo ink, varied dimensions Site-specific

This is a story to understand the essence of one’s identity, a combination of the self with the other, which deals with compromise and adaption, a journey of changing one’s home, stretching it to feel at home in that given, chosen space, the idea of movement, torment seen through colour and food. During this process of adaptation, new languages and new rituals are learnt, and new flavours are discovered. Years of learning and unlearning finally allow comfort. Life slowly becomes a composition of work and encounters, created through sharing, and understanding the dilemma of moving, of change, from one home to another.

For over two decades, creating a Home away from Home has been my mantra and daily practice. Being Indian-French and someone who melts two very distinct cultural identities, I am acutely sensitive to interpersonal and societal separations that arise due to differences in cultures and backgrounds. This becomes the backdrop in creating a Home away from home.