Hillsacpe

Size- 66 x 84 inches

Medium – Acrylic on Canvas

Year- 2019

This particular work is a visual retelling of experiences and anecdotes from my homecity Guwahati, situated in the northeastern foothills of India. I tried to emblematically weave different chronicles which constitute my social reality. Guwahati being the corridor of the entire north eastern region of India, enjoys a special economic and political status. The mighty river Bhrahmputra which runs in and around the city, silently bear witness to these events. My images speak about the dichotomies that exist in our life and culture(s). Assam has long been struggling with many demons like the rest of our nation. The different systems of abuse through power has been one. Even in the wake of 21st century we are fighting issues of terrorism, illiteracy, gender-abuse, honour killing, land-mafia, wildlife abuse, political and religious fundamentalism etc.only to mention a few. I rendered isolated narratives against the vast terrain. The bloated fish in the work is reminder of corporate greed, whereas the leopard on the tree is a testimony of a real event where villagers killed the big cat and displayed it atop a tree as a trophy and collectively jeered at it. The poaching of single horned rhino is another rampant evil. On one hand the rhino image is used to uplift assamese cultural propaganda, while on the other hand their actual extinction is aided by forest officials in broad daylight under the direct vigilance of government. This nexus of power perturb me. Such public display of a carcass exposes the narrow mindset of the so called civilized society were we regularly engage in similar barbarism against wildlife as well as humans. The collective sadist urges also gets represented where atrocities against women go unnoticed (like eve-teasing by hooligans or male-rage to prove masculinity) , where lovers commit suicide to honour false family pride. My intension in this work was not to impregnate my visual motifs with complex meanings but to bring forth the crude realities of the space that we occupy.