Photo credit: Augustine Paredes
Self-portrait photogravures encased in muga silk, printed on eri silk
20 x 9 cm, 2024
20 x 9 cm, 2024
First iteration of “ma, I am ill” consists of three photogravures encased in silk, and a silk sculpture that speaks of
an ill body, and its relationship to the ground that it has to lay upon. The project explores the experience of long term
illness, taking inspiration from early clinical photography, that borrowed artistic forms while the vocabulary for
depicting various mental illnesses was still being developed and the field of psychiatry was still in infancy. In the
process of making these self-portrait images, I used mirrors, that are akin to translation surfaces, which reveals or
hides parts of the image (and that of body).
an ill body, and its relationship to the ground that it has to lay upon. The project explores the experience of long term
illness, taking inspiration from early clinical photography, that borrowed artistic forms while the vocabulary for
depicting various mental illnesses was still being developed and the field of psychiatry was still in infancy. In the
process of making these self-portrait images, I used mirrors, that are akin to translation surfaces, which reveals or
hides parts of the image (and that of body).
Sculpture, eri and muga silk fibres, 113cm x 49cm
The scale of the sculpture is akin to that of a 6 years old girl, but depicts an adult woman body, who has
spent a long time in bed. This piece was based off on the idea of “rest-cures”, an old prescribed method of
healing for people with spine issues and back pain, where they were advised to spend a few hours in bed
everyday, and also relates to an equivalent advice that is often given by medical practitioners in India,
that translates as “bed rest”. The rest here becomes the cure, but does not aid recovery.