ASSEMBLAGES
The term Assemblage refers to a form of sculpture comprised of "found"Â objects arranged in such a way that they create a piece.
TITLE: LAMPSHADE
June 2018
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Media: Masons Ironstone lamp, acetate panels, plastic garden plant ties.
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Lady Lazarus, a poem by Sylvia Plath, explores the themes of death, violence and suffering. In the poem Lady Lazarus refers to herself as:
“A sort of walking miracle, my skin
Bright as a Nazi lampshade”
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There were allegations, after World War II, that Nazis had made lampshades from murdered concentration camp prisoners. Human skin was used to produce such mundane, everyday objects like lampshades to furnish a lounge or workplace.
In this work self-portraits are used to make the lampshade. The portraits clearly show and identify who the human being is. A skin covering of a lampshade gives the human, who was butchered and torn up, no identification and no uniqueness, no recognition of their humanity. In this work the light that illuminates each acetate portrait gives a sense of divinity and promotes humanity shining through.
The six portraits are homage to the artists Dirk Dzimirsky and Masashi Kishimoto.
TITLE: MULTICULTURAL UXBRIDGE
June 2018
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This assemblage work aims to document this and at the same time raise issues of multiculturalism and how at times there can be tensions between communities of different races. This autobiographical artwork shows the local community of Uxbridge, and how the artist has been influenced by both the local culture as well as his home ethnic culture. The sari is made up from dozens of 6” x 4” photographs that are stitched together using black neon cable ties. Each photograph presents either an image of the Pavilions Shopping Centre, Uxbridge or a monochrome portrait of a colleague from college. The photographic portraits, reflecting racial diversity, are in the style of Ken Ohara. The black cable ties used to stitch the photographs together serve as a metaphor for the glue that invokes a fundamental question: What is the glue that holds and binds together the peoples of different race, culture, religion in any community? The idea of producing a sari is influenced by the poem Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan by the poet Moniza Alvi, where the poet uses eastern clothing as a metaphor for her Asian identity. The chain around the neck is in reference to the jewellery received by the poet in the poem. The chain has three pendants, each a pencil on paper portrait of a British Figure, representing a conservative notion of Britishness. The two hanging framed pictures, flanking either side of the mannequin, are portraits of the Indian Bollywood actor, Amitabh Bachchan. The mannequin and the two portraits of the Bollywood star are connected by string (the strands are coloured in the colours of the union jack and the Indian national flags).
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TITLE: IMMIGRANTS
June 2020
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In the poem Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan by Moniza Alvi, the poet describes her struggle to find which culture she truly belongs to: Pakistani or English. The poet speaks about how her background makes her different from her peers. In the end the poet concludes “And I was there-of no fixed nationality”. This assemblage work, addresses this fundamental issue for the artist who is a British born citizen of Indian heritage. Which culture does he belong to, if any? The work presents four pencil on paper portraits of immigrants (first or second generation) that have made a contribution to British culture. They are: the poet Benjamin Zephaniah; the Pakistani, British journalist Yasmin Alibhai-Brown; the novelist Salman Rushdie; and the Sikh, British journalist and broadcaster, Lord Indarjit Singh. The work also makes reference to Tomoko Sawada, the Japanese contemporary feminist photographer and performance artist. In her work titled ID400 she photographs herself as a number of different identities. Each photograph explores how any individual has to physically change in order that they fit into positions and roles that society demands. As a third generation British Asian, the artist is interested in how he is perceived by, and how he fits into, British society. How should he act; what should be his political beliefs; what religion, if any, should he follow; what music and art should he like; what style of clothing should he wear; what dishes can he eat; who can he marry? Wider western society will want to answer these questions for him and so have views as to who he is.
TITLE: DECORATIVE KILLING IMPLEMENT
June 2020
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Media: Acryllic paint on iron and wood
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In an essay titled Techniques of Decoration on Arms and Armor, by Dirk H. Breiding, Department of Arms and Armor, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the study and appreciation of the techniques and methods for the decoration of arms and armour is presented. Techniques, such as: gilding and silvering; inlay, damascening, and encrusting; embossing; fretting and openwork; etc. are discussed in terms of how they add to the aesthetic qualities of these functional items of weaponry.
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The work, Decorative Killing Weapon, questions how an implement for killing, both human and animal life, can concurrently be decorated in order to become a work of aesthetic allure. The pictured axe is a metaphor for humans: a species that can create art and beauty and simultaneously can destroy and kill.
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