The Strangers We Know art exhibition explores disconnect among kith and kin

The Strangers We Know art exhibition, presently on at Neighbour Gallery in Kesavadasapuram, Thiruvananthapuram, is split into two by a monochrome partition full of images from the exhibit titled Surge by Chennai-based photographer Priyadarshini Ravichandran. The black and white portraits are displayed in a grid, bordering the doorway to a different room the place the remainder of images from the sequence are showcased.

On the other wall are art installations by Thiruvananthapuram-based artist Sanath Sugathan, faintly boasting shades of inexperienced, blue, brown and extra. Unevenly spaced and distinctive in type, the works vary from acrylic work to sketches by the artist wrapped across the gallery’s pillar.

However, regardless of the evident distinction, the artists and their art are tethered by their disconnect with the acquainted and the familial, “attempting to cope with the fragility of blood ties while also celebrating the connections they experienced with strangers.”

Surge solely consists of pigment-printed images captured by Priyadarshini throughout a workshop in Cambodia. The remainder of the exhibit consists of an accordion photobook with photos glued to it in a checkerboard sample and two bigger images on either side, showcased on a wall.

Accordion guide a part of the Surge exhibit
| Photo Credit:
Nainu Oommen

The images stemmed from Priyadarshini’s must seize a “loss of connection” together with her sibling again residence. Portraits of “strangers, animals, trees, rocks and cityscapes became placeholders for articulating the complexity of my relationship,” she says.

“I made Surge from an insuppressible need to free myself from the guilt I felt due to an estrangement. My process and pace of taking photographs was rigorous, as if to express myself even when communication had ceased,” says Priyadarshini, a winner of the Parasol prize by V&A Museum, a prestigious worldwide award for girls photographers.

Photographer Priyadarshini Ravichandran
| Photo Credit:
SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Another exhibit by Priyadarshini is Paattu Class, a 15-minute documentary made with footage compiled during the last 10 years. It offers with the connection between the photographer’s mom and the mom’s aunt. Priyadarshini research music from the 2, and these classes type the crux of the documentary. Over the years, the aunt turned a mom to Priyadarshini’s mom.

A nonetheless from Paattu Class
| Photo Credit:
SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

“I never intended to make a film. I began to film our classes mostly to memorise the verses, and over time these recordings began to unravel the unspoken nature of their relationship to me,” she says.

“I began to edit the film after a friend based in Kathmandu nudged me to do it upon hearing that my grandmother had passed away last year,” says Priyadarshini, who shot the movie on handycams, DSLRs and telephones.

Shades and glimmers

On one nook of Sanath’s aspect of the reveals, a cactus plant is ready up. On a better look, there are scribbles on the tender stem of the desert plant that reads ‘grandmother’, ‘mother’, ‘son’, ‘grandfather’ … one on every department. Just a few toes away from the bigger plant, a small plant can be positioned on the soil.

Family Tree exhibit by Sanath Sugathan
| Photo Credit:
SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

The Family Tree exhibit could be traced again to Sanath’s childhood recollections of his ancestral residence in Paripally, Kollam. “There was a cactus plant in one corner of the house; it was not very large but had a lot of branches. I remember finding my cousins’ names being etched on its branches. I also did the same,” says Sanath.

Artist Sanath Sugathan
| Photo Credit:
SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

“I felt the plant represented our family metaphorically. The cactus has a protective exterior due to the thorns, but the plant by itself is very soft,” says Sanath.

Does It Still Hurt to Step on Broken Glass in The Sand?, is an acrylic portray of glass shards on sand with one finish of a cassette tape hooked up to the portrait, whereas one other one flutters within the air. The cassette is displayed too.

Does It Still Hurt to Step on Broken Glass in The Sand? exhibit
| Photo Credit:
Nainu Oommen

This paintings is carefully associated to an concept referred to as spacious togetherness, referring to the importance of area between people in several relationships.

“During a conversation, one of the initiators of the Neighbour gallery, Valentina Abenavoli, told me about how two porcupines cannot stand too close to each other or hug each other. They must find a comfortable space to stand without hurting each other,” says Sanath, mentioning that traversing via relationships requires a way of tenderness, very like strolling on sand with damaged glass, impressed by a sight close to his residence in Varkala.

The shards of glass symbolize glimmer, a short-lived ray of sunshine, explains Sanath, recalling his fixed “pursuit of possible tenderness or healing” via glimmers as a baby.

The tape from the audio cassettes fluttering represents a core reminiscence for the artist who used to throw cassettes excessive up on tree branches and see the brown tapes dangle there. This occurred when cassettes have been turning into out of date with the arrival of the CD, Sanath remembers.

Three Scenes of a Landscape consists of two reduction sculptures (sculptures hooked up to the background) created from plaster of Paris and a five-minute video of a household getaway captured by Sanath.

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“It was a difficult time for my family. We travelled to a place thinking it might help us heal, and I started recording,” says Sanath.

Visitors with Three Scenes of a Landscape exhibit by Sanath Sugathan
| Photo Credit:
Adil Sanoob

As a baby, Sanath’s sister had developed a worry of water when she virtually drowned within the sea. However, the video has her stepping right into a stream with currents. In the backdrop, Sanath’s mom, out of worry, asks her daughter to return. “She is trying to control her child with her fear. That’s when we see my sister break her hereditary patterns by stepping into the water.”

His different works on the exhibition embrace drawings and excerpts of his writings, an archival guide and Gouache (opaque watercolour) on Chinese paper.

The Strangers We Know exhibition is on until May 31 at Neighbour Gallery in Kesavadasapuram, Thiruvananthapuram. Entry free.