Artist statement

ARTIST STATEMENT:

S ince 2013, after I fell ill with a still undiagnosed neurological disorder similar to Parkinson's and was unable to write (I was a writer first and

foremost), I took to photography as a way to cope with every day. It soon became my diary to the world, to show them how I really am when no one is looking.

After seven years of these self portraits I have decided to turn the lens onto other women (and men) and their relationship with their body, which may or may not arise out of illness. Our relationship with our bodies, an ever changing body, is a very complex one.

The series, which I loosely call Women and Bodies in Art focuses on the human form, the human shape, the human vulnerability and the many different kinds of relationships we have with our body. It also asks questions about women’s role in Art--- what does it mean for a woman to be photographed by another woman? Why is censorship

unequal? What is the fine line between art and pornography? How does Gender interface with art and ways of seeing?

The project is two fold.

One one hand there is a portraiture series of at least thirty women although I hope to include more.

On the other side, are essays about the themes of portraiture, gender, the male gaze, ways of seeing, movement and time in photography and more which will be published as a book by Harper Collins India.

As of writing this statement, the series, although not fully complete, has been selected for exhibitions in thirteen venues across the world and its first solo in Miami next December

Kierkegaard had a famous quote In his book, the seducers diary,where he says, and I paraphrase, behind the world that we live in, lies another world parallel to our world. It is hidden behind a gauze or a gossamer— which allows you to Half see and yet keep some things half hidden. Behind it, says Kierkegaard, There is another world that is more ethereal, lying in parallel to this world as the stage behind the curtain does to the stage in front of the curtain.

My portraits are very much inspired by that quote. I like to explore the limitations and possibilities of portraiture: how much we allow ourselves to be seen, how much we keep to ourselves, the act of photography as a theft, the violation of portraiture, I question what portraiture really is. This of course morphs into other conversations, such as gender and censorship, but but ultimately it really explores The potential of portraiture And its boundaries and the different worlds we and photography straddles

The series that I have been working on, women and bodies reinvents reality as well but through the female body .

All the participants of this project are volunteers who wanted to explore some aspect of their past or present through the lens and therefore chose to participate . Some to get over trauma, disorders, fears. They dictated what parts of their body to show and how much. Whether ‘true’ or not, the series is very much about giving the participants full license to be ‘seen’ in the way they wish the world to see them. This is the first thing I tell them and this is what gives the series an unique, collaborative-ness.