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' Shakti: Roots of Vision' at WORKS/San Jose

Article by Berin Golonu, Published by Artweek (November 1998)

This exhibition brings together the work of eight Bay Area artists of east Indian descent. The show is predicated upon the female experience of leading a bi-cultural existence in this country; seven out of eight artists included in the exhibition are women, and the title Shakti refers to the female counterpart of the mighty Hindu god Shiva. In compiling this body of work, the curator Soumya Sitaraman strove to demonstrate how the creative impulses of these artists are fueled by their Indian heritage.

The works of two artists in particular successfully convey the intentions of the curator. As a senior project for her undergraduate degree at the Rhode Island School of Design, Kavita Bali constructed an accordion-style book of silkscreens entitled Passages (1987). the images are largely autobiographical in that they chronicle the life of the artist from infancy through adulthood as she shifts her point of focus between India and the United States. There is a picture of Bali as a pre-teen, studying in the library. An advertisement showing a happy western couple dressed in business suits forms the backdrop. Another picture of Bali wearing traditional Indian dress and standing next to her father is placed over a backdrop of a crowded Indian street. In an effort to define her female identity, Bali contrasts Eastern and Western perspectives of women and ultimately draws stability and strength from her family background.

	Kavita Bali, Passages, silkscreen, at WORKS/San Jose.

Permi K. Gill is a British artist of Indian descent working in San Francisco. Gill produces understated installations that deliver a potent political critique. In her Critical Apparel Series (1998) three immaculately clean and starched men's shirt sleeves hang limply out of simple frames. A myriad of political associations are brought to mind. By framing an article of male clothing that is labor intensive to sew and maintain, Gill has exalted these common cotton shirts to the ralm of fine art. She brings to lighht a woman's chore in servitude to her male counterpart, something that is usually taken for granted within a patriarchal society. Considering that India is an important producer of cotton and silk for the West, this series also can be read as a critique of the First World/Third World exchange of cheap labor. The delicate hand stitching on the shirts prompts the viewer to question who the faceless laborers are, where they live, and how they were compensated for their efforts.

Unfortunately, some of the other work on display either fails to sufficiently explore the roots of it's expression or is altogether disconnected with them. In her oil painting Union (1998), Sitaraman, who has chosen to exhibit a good number of her own pieces, appropriates imagery from Hindu mythology: an elephant, a four-eyed deity, a peacock, a water lily, etc. The visual narrative neglects to communicate how or why these symbols hold a place of importance in the artist's life. Swati Kapoor's abstract expressionist studies of enamel on paperboard borrow more from Jackson Pollock's frenzied drip paintings than from the Indian philosophy that she claims to be her source of inspiration. Both artists should be advised to delve further into the examination of their imagery and into the process of its creation before adhering elaborate signifiers to their work.

---- Berin Golonu

Shakti: Roots of Vision closed October 15 at WORKS/san Jose. Other artists in the show included Romilla Batra, Zarina Hashmi, Meera Desai and Rajat Ghosh.

Berin Golonu is an artist and writer living in san Francisco.

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Article by Berin Golonu, Published by Artweek (November 1998 issue, pgs. 20-21)