Installations / Collective art-making

There was a time when making paintings was my individual expression and working with women in struggles for social change was separate from this. But my participation in theatrical creations – collective creation of performances based on everyone’s voices have intrinsically inspired me to create collective visual art. I began to create collective artworks, by assisting women to express themselves through lines and colours.

In our society in general people do not practice drawing or art in their lives after their childhood. When I say let’s draw, women always become shy. They will always ask why I am asking them to do childish things like this. They will say they don’t know to draw forms. But once the colours get to their hands the drawings will flood out of them. When they see the drawing once it is put together, they themselves will be surprised. When all the paintings come together, it becomes an emotive and effective conversation among people. They often share the feeling of fulfilment they feel about their work and their stories being expressed through this collective art. These creations are made usually with things that are easily available in our lives – sarees, cloth, jute ropes, grains etc. ritique of all the political structures that surround me.