HAIL (KOCHI)
Tanya Abraham

Madhu V by using the Chinese moth [its struggles of transforming itself
into a moth from a silk worm; that death is the next phase of life and not the
end of life] as a metaphor links nature, the universe and personal existence
together, and explicates the dilemma and the possibilities of adopting a
certain manner of living in a contemporary world, which he terms as ‘Secret
Practice’. His work is intricately attached to nature, the importance of it and
the lack of an understanding of using it for our physical existence, rather
than exploit it. The artist strives through a secret practice towards a life of
tranquillity. In Amendments I, II and III, Bhuvanesh Gowda speaks of two
ideas, both in which he uses blocks of wood as metaphors. In Amendment I,
the wood which was the base of a traditional pillar, represents the transition
from one culture to another and one history to another, and thus recording
the time between the two phases. In the other two works, Gowda uses meat
chopping blocks which have undergone violent treatment under the thrust
of knives. The emergence of an art object from it, the artist’s work on the
blocks of wood, tells of yet another transition and transformation, where a
past moves into a completely new creation in the hands of the artist.
Lastly, Radha Gomati’s video work titled ‘The Drift’ speaks of the artist’s
relationship with water, and her experience at Kashi, where she spent time.
She resonates deeply with the idea of a flow in life, the drift of life which
takes her in an unceasing journey. Floating on water, she provides the idea
of submission and the presence of a vast energy that is the Source.