At a point where the world is divided into binary gender discourses, only a few artists are successful in expressing the innate ‘identity.’ An artist who does that like no other isBharti Kher. Kher was born in 1969 in London where she received her education; at Middlesex Polytechnic, London and Newcastle Polytechnic, Newcastle upon Tyne. After completing her education she moved to Delhi. Bharti Kher met artistSubodh Guptain 1992. Within a year, they got married, becoming apower couplein the contemporary art scene.
Bharti Kher Artwork Themes
She is a multimedia artist; her work encompasses paintings, sculptures, installations, and video. Bharti Kher’s artwork is a love letter to herself. Her artwork evokes the plurality of self. In her work, she focuses on the material and its varied connotations. This has allowed her to tread a path between abstract and figurative; a notion which is obvious in her oeuvre. The ability to collate and juxtapose materials (raw and readymade) is a trademark of Bharti Kher paintings and sculptures. Doing this transcended the boundaries of rigid forms and transmuted Bharti Kher artworks into a hybrid of (wo)man and animal.
Since she plays with the connotative power of materials, Bharti Kher artwork has undoubtedly been the talk of many towns. For example, she has extensively used ‘bindi’ in her work; ‘The Skin Speaks a Language Not Its Own’ and ‘Starry Night After V.G.’ to name a few. While the ‘bindi’ is seen as a fashion accessory in the West; something which people have appropriated for far too long (Hello there! Selena Gomez), it has a spiritual significance in the Indian traditions. The same applies to the use of sari as is the case with ‘Bind the Dream State to Your Waking Life’, which employs malleable resin-covered yards of sarees, to form distinct shapes narrating the experiences of the female body.
Intermediaries
The word ‘intermediary’ connotes a state of transition. An intermediary stage is one where the person is the most vulnerable yet the most powerful. Elucidating the concept is Bharti Kher artwork, aptly titled ‘Intermediaries.’ The work came into being when she decided to get 1000 clay objects from South India. As expected, out of them some reached her broken. Instead of fixing them, she collected the pieces and glued them together to form a new myth. The collection is an ode to the legend of ‘ardhnarishwar’, representing the duality of genders and their shapeshifting prowess.
Ancestor
While ‘Ancestor’ is not technically a part of ‘Intermediaries’, it can be considered a spiritual successor. Commissioned byKNMA, Saket, Bharti Kher devised an eighteen-foot-tall feminine sculpture. As is the case, she is adorned with the heads of 23 figures, poking out of her body. The sculpture generates multiple meanings. Bharti Kher’s artwork may be seen as a woman’s significance in prolonging life. It also summons the synecdochic identity of a woman (part as one; one as part). While it is a progenitor of diverse definitions, it is indisputably an imagery of belonging, care, multiculturalism, and interconnectedness.
Photo Courtesy – Art Basel
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