The Blind Love Story_2015
A fragile tome bound delicately by a white ribbon lies half-open on a holy book stand. The viewer, from a distance, might mistake the intricately designed work for a holy book. However, a closer look reveals something different as the yellowing pages fall open to reveal a curious lattice of pins piercing through every page. What the viewer cannot tell at first glance is that the pins spell out in Braille a story of love and loss. It reveals a hidden narrative that can only be viewed by pinpricks.
The artist learned Braille for this project, painstakingly arranging each pin to narrate her story. This is a work that welcomes to be read and touched; the artist expects the viewer to read through the pages, run their hand across the pins. One can choose to ignore the exposed pins and touch only the black tops. However, the true story will remain untold without the little jabs of pain the pricking will cause.
This installation piece is the scripture of love, promising pain with every turn of the page. As one flips through the book pages, the delicate binding slowly comes apart— the pages loosen like the narrative itself. Promises will fall apart justlike pins as the reader turns the page. This is artwork that is meant to be undone– at the end of the day, the entire installation will collapse into pieces as readers pore through it. No story can be told without reliving what hurts you, as re-telling itself is painful. The unravelling of the artwork represents the moment when love causes us to fall apart.
CLOSE_2015
Photographs are memories perfectly preserved in time, but not all memories are pleasant. Parul Bouvart’s installation Close captures the conflicting emotions that are tied to memory, to our idea of family, intimacy and nostalgia. The art installation captures a collection of vintage family photographs pinned to the wall. However, the faces have all been obscured by a gathering of pins piercing through the photo and into the hard surface of the wall.
Family photographs capture deep nostalgia within us. It reminds us of a journey of shared memories and unbreakable bonds, forged from the most profound sense of intimacy. But some memories can cut us deep, leave you vulnerable, and draw blood. They remind you of times bygone that only cause invariable pain right now. They can leave one naked, leaving you at the mercy of the past that cannot be changed. The artist is firm in her rejection of these memories, blocking out the faces of the very dear with countless sharp pins.
Close questions the integral idea of intimacy within a family and how endangered honest emotions can leave you. The title of the artwork is double ended. “Close” usually signifies intimacy, but it also means shutting down, the closing of a chapter, the act of moving on. The pins obscuring the faces of family members represent the barriers we put up deep inside us to protect ourselves from the crushing weight of memories. The mere glimpse of a face can open up a treasure trove of memories that one is not ready to open. The pins visually signify the hurt and pain memories can sometimes cause us.
2016
GRIHA PRAVESH
GRIHA PRAVESH_2016
We are defined and formed by rituals in ways beyond comprehension, and for the artist, rituals hold a special interrogative position. Through her art, she tries to explore the significance and complexity of rituals, whether they be cultural, religious or social; recognizing their integral yet necessary position in our lives and their capacity to define individual selves and communities.
While the artist has several works where she investigates various rituals in depth, Griha Pravesh stands out as one of the most significant; it is a re-enacting of an important Hindu ritual, rendered through the artist’s personal lens that delves into the process of grief and self discovery. Griha Pravesh is a performance piece that utilises an amalgamation of several of the artist’s other projects, all of which are deeply personal and explore her relationship with her loved ones in various ways.
The traditional ritual of Griha Pravesh is a house-warming ritual performed when a family enters their new home, praying for safety and auspiciousness, heralding a new chapter of their lives. Here, the artist turns the ritual over its head as her performance enacts a ritual that signals not the entry, but the exit. The “home” itself is another project by the artist; it's a small white room with a bed, filled with several deeply personal artworks, including Close and Letters to/from Papa. The room becomes symptomatic for the artist’s subconscious that hosts memories of the past that she would rather not face, memories that she has not yet been able to overcome. But through the process of her performance - a ritual transformed to accommodate and process her raw emotions- she aims to close, or rather exit a particular chapter of her life.
Instead of seeking auspicious entry, she performs a dynamic exit, wrapping the white boxed room with kautuka, a red and yellow coloured thread that is supposed to bring protection. This thread bars entry to the inside of the room, and the audience who could previously freely roam around are restricted to glimpse the author’s life through the small windows. The ritual-performance finishes as she tips over the ritual copper pot, set never to look back or re-engage with the part of her precious memories left behind. Though the artist knows that a mere ritual is not enough for the process of grieving to reach its culmination, it is certainly a start.
