Laced
I trace the contours of continuous changes in my body that overwhelm me. Impregnated by nature’s design, it expands and contracts releasing the scarlet fluid, the sacred waters cleansing the dirt and muck, preparing for another cycle of anticipation and pain. The body and mind remain in a constant state of fluctuation, in a state of ‘being’ never really comfortably embracing each cyclic change. I weave my dress, a second skin stained scarlet registering the change in its each loop connecting from one to the other like a shroud of ‘being’, a monument to the monumentality of change and its anxieties.
Laced (2019)
Crochet, lace, fabric, iron structure, printed images, video and pool of salt water. Dimensions variable
‘Laced’ is a decorative web or a screen that allows you to see beyond. It’s an illusive cover and its decorativeness and its potential dichotomy of revealing- unrevealing in the same instance instils a sensual exoticness. Lace, particularly crochet and other handmade laces are anchored in our colonial history. Brought into Sri Lanka by the colonisers as a practice particularly as a preoccupation for upper-class women, it connects us to the creative traditions of Portugal and Dutch heritages. Hand-made lace, crochet making has evolved from being a pastime for upper class women to an exotic and exclusive item sold for high value now, practiced mostly as an occupation for women in the lower income strata. Crochet, a colonial legacy turned into an exotic object.
Fort, an architectural structure that is built for its strength and impenetrability. Forts were built as a colonial enterprise to fortify their military power and to keep the natives at bay. Today the ramparts of these forts remain as exotic monuments of a bygone era.
‘Laced’ is accompanied by the video ‘Conquest’. Both ‘Laced’ and ‘Conquest’ combines these two disparate motifs of our maritime history to give a nuanced narrative.