The ‘Compressed@’ series responds to the various urban environments that I inhabit through a combination of studio and industrial processes to express the complexity of ‘compression’. These works offer a visceral and studied response to the complexity of various forms of compression, physical, emotional or time; associated with urban milieus and existence. Created through a combination of studio and industrial processes; they function as metaphors of the felt urban ‘compression’ and as material manifestations of subliminal experiences and reflections.
In my practice, the idea of compression is used, not only to fit a material into a pre-determined mould / space but also to transform it to acquire a different shape, form and eventually a different identity. This notion of compression is embedded not only in the process of making my works but also in the works themselves.
Oil paint applied on quotidian urban materials like tarpaulin and jute and then burnt and peeled off to create paint strips, is the key material in these works. Layered, affixed, ripped, torn, peeled and burnt, large volumes of strips are subjected to manual duress in the studio and subsequently in an industrial setting, where these are condensed into dense, solid blocks.
The process transmutes paint into sculptural forms, to reflect the process of labour, compression of time and conditions of production, synonymous with urban settings. Subsequently, sculptures are manually cut open to expose the level of compression, as if they are marks of the accumulated experiences. The materials themselves and the industrial processes they are put through, are a testimonial to use and disuse, ends and means, presence and absence.
