Minaal Lawn

Objects of Worship (Homage to Mrinalini)

Traditional elements found in Hindu temple architecture have been thematically and compositionally implied in Objects of Worship (Homage to Mrinalini). Sacred geometry, symmetry and architectural elements such as Darvapalal (entrance guards or guardians) and Garbhagriha (an innermost sanctum or womb chamber) have been used to create an abstracted space to deify a central idol (Murti).

Objects of Worship (Homage to Mrinalini) serves as an offering to the work of Indian fiber artist Mrinaliani Mukerjhee (1945-2015). Her unvanquished use of scale, colour and the knotted form create imposing floor to ceiling sculptures. Her vindication into the global contemporary art space (never more so than after her death, with three major works included at the 59th edition of the Venice Biennale) challenged the societal and cultural norms of her time.

Through inherent abstraction of form and a language of colour these works encapsulate a complexity of meaning to recreate a new cultural iconography. The Knuckle Stack with its simple permutations represent the bodily form of a life lived.  Each Stack a combination of preexisting ideas and beliefs, of cultural stories owned as the expression of a single entity. The Orb, a microcosm for the individual as it relates to the Cosmos.  Wall adornment, an offering.  The knotted form represents, most transparently, a bind. In Hindu culture, also a trapping of spirits, and a symbol of marriage as ownership. Though this power is diminished through scale, repetition and colour, to a personal ownership of the cultural and societal ties that once bound, untying its traditional meaning. Fitting then, is the Sanskrit word for Independence expressed as sva-tantra, being one's own string or thread.