The transient nature of the frozen installations delve into the impermanence of our natural resources and the things we take for granted.
In my series Compost, I photograph weekly still life portraits of the wet waste produced in my home. The installations take on various forms as they are frozen over time as layers of waste pile up, allowing me to play with uncertainty in structure, colour, form and textures. The end product challenges the idea of the contrived versus the organic, the images indulging in both. The series brings to the forefront the idea of creating art with minimal resources. It has been an ongoing effort in my practise to create something out of nothing and to be able to see beauty or inspiration in the mundane and the unnoticed.
The series came about when my partner and I began freezing our wet waste and dropping it off at our friend’s compost pit. Every week since March 11 2020, I created portraits of our household waste before it was tossed off in the pit. The process of creating and observing these portraits have inspired me to be mindful of managing my waste better.
A few weeks into this project, India went into complete lockdown due to COVID-19, and this series became a reflection of the present time, as we, in Goa, faced a shortage of not only food supply across the state but also an interim inability to access any consumer product at all, due to the hundred percent lockdown of all shops in the state. The creation of this series quickly became a support system for me to create even with the lack of external resources. It brings to the forefront important topics such as the value of the food we grow, how we as a species decide to utilise the resources the earth gives us and what we can make of those resources if we were to use them in a conscious way.
Could something that is tossed off as waste, adorn spaces as art?
I believe the future of art is to build, create, produce work from what already exists and doesn’t strip resources or create additional waste.
FEATURED IN
PHOTOGRAPHIC EXPLORATION PROJECT
FLEA CIRCUS MAGAZINE Vol. 1 | Little Victories
FOOD& Magazine: Vol FOOD& GRAVITY
ATMOS for World Food Day
RE:GENERATE by KISS THE GROUND
VIENNA DESIGN WEEK Urban Food & Design Symposium with the theme “The City as A Resource” by KOMPOST & Vienna Business Agency