I'm a queer Indian American who's interested in engaging with, and reclaiming, queer Hindu visual imagery and experiences through art creation. I especially engage with ideas of gender, sexuality, colonialism, Hindu concepts, the desexualization of an ancient sexual culture, and the Western Gaze. Overall, I love art that is an experience and art that can be used for healing and reimagining reality.
કોહ
રુ
"Britain's Crown Jewel" કોહ
રુ , or "Britain's Crown Jewel," explores the dissection and appropriation of the queer Indian
body into historical curiosities for the Western gaze, through the frame of a colonial museum exhibit. The transformation of the "Total Home" brand aluminum foil into discardable, temporary bodies references the Western construction of "Queer" and also evokes the closet, an anonymous, invisibilizing safety mechanism to protect queer bodies. There are મહદ (mehndi) designs on the aluminum casts of the artist's body a body which Indian and Western culture has deemed to reject femininity. મહદ is a celebratory practice for the Indian ritual of marriage, a societal practice often entrenched in patriarchy, transphobia, homophobia, classism, casteism, colorism, and more. Queer and trans people must often embrace queerphobic and sexist customs to express and be recognized for their gender, gender fluidity, and queerness. This expression also must often be able to be invisibilized on a moment's notice, in order to preserve the queer person's safety. It all makes one want to crumple all the aluminum foil casts together and toss it out.
મં દર ( અથવા ણ) Mandir (or Brahman) This મં દર is constructed out of aluminum foil, trash bags, and aluminum panels. The idols are molds of the artist’s body. The artist and visitors can wear trash bags as clothes to visit and worship in the મં દર.
Promise In a lecture by Dr. Alexis Pauline Gumbs titled “Do Not Forget the Moment: Love in the Face of Violence,” she had audience members make a promise any promise to anyone they wanted. My promise was to continue to create for my own and for my chosen family. “Promise” is an 8ft x 8ft x 8ft installation made of aluminum foil and acrylic paint. After and while using the space myself, visitors were encouraged to use the space to deal with, process, release, and/or engage with whatever they may be dealing with. They were also encouraged to explore, discover, and reclaim the features of the landscape and use them however they wished, whether by painting, pouring water, working within the built space, or reforming and even radically changing the space by sculpting, puncturing, tearing, or otherwise changing the foil. “Promise” was an attempt to create a community space built on love, individuality, and a vibrant celebration of both the individuals and the community.