Yantra (prototype), 2021
sculpture
The sculpture takes its form from the Samrat Yantra, the sundial in the Jantar Mantar observatory in Delhi, India, which was built in the 1700s. The work situates the observatory within its contemporary significance as a site synonymous with political protest. As two corresponding forms with intersecting shadows, the sundials are re-imagined as sculptural metaphors for diaspora and resistance. With an incomplete and inaccessible row of stairs on each structure, the sculpture references the aspiration in star-gazing and protest.
Installed as part of the Living As A Nation exhibition at the Queens Museum in 2021-22, the sculptures anchored two video projects based on cultural and political movements in Delhi and the United Kingdom. The former traces narratives of belonging and identity in Delhi, India; while the latter focuses on postcolonial immigrant expression from the British Commonwealth.
Installed as part of the Living As A Nation exhibition at the Queens Museum in 2021-22, the sculptures anchored two video projects based on cultural and political movements in Delhi and the United Kingdom. The former traces narratives of belonging and identity in Delhi, India; while the latter focuses on postcolonial immigrant expression from the British Commonwealth.
Notes on Process
The Samrat Yantra sundial in the Jantar Mantar observatory in Delhi, India. Image credit: ritiriwaz.com
Yantra (2022; detail) (left); and the Samrat Yantra (right). Image credit (right): Anupamg, Wikimedia Commons
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Studio sketches, Queens Museum, April-May 2021
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Sketches and maquette filmed in August 2021 for Queens Museum's Artist-In-Residence Studio Visits
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Ceramic experiments (left: 2.75"x6"; right: 3"x2.75"), 2018-19, The New School