Bloom/This Is Not That Dawn
(2021-ongoing), sculpture
The forms of exhibition infrastructure, traditionally built to hold inanimate art objects, are reconfigured to create an artificially constructed environment built to keep two Raat Ki Rani (night-blooming jasmine) plants alive. Created in September 2021 with two young plants, the current sculpture is an ongoing and organic work, as they continue to grow and produce flowers in bloom within the pedestal.
On either side of the structure, the fluorescent green lattices reference jaalis from South Asian architecture. The pattern on these screens has been disrupted and glitched from its original intricate symmetry, indicating hybrid and conflicting identities, borders and histories. They situate the jasmine plants, which grow across South Asian nation states, and are also native to the Caribbean. When in bloom these jasmine plants release a smell that is distinctive to these regions. This sensory experience is employed as a metaphor for diaspora, containment and borderlessness, as the viewer navigates the structures around the plants.
On either side of the structure, the fluorescent green lattices reference jaalis from South Asian architecture. The pattern on these screens has been disrupted and glitched from its original intricate symmetry, indicating hybrid and conflicting identities, borders and histories. They situate the jasmine plants, which grow across South Asian nation states, and are also native to the Caribbean. When in bloom these jasmine plants release a smell that is distinctive to these regions. This sensory experience is employed as a metaphor for diaspora, containment and borderlessness, as the viewer navigates the structures around the plants.
Iterations
Queens Museum, 2021-22
Bloom/This Is Not That Dawn was installed as part of the Living As A Nation exhibition at the Queens Museum in 2021-22.
Hessel Museum of Art, 2024
Bloom/This Is Not That Dawn was installed in a new iteration at the Hessel Museum, with an audio work on headphones and a still image projection.
