Controlled Substance Abuse

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/women-pregnant-girls-pressured-abortions-india/story?id=15103950 It ain't pretty, but if you would take a look at the contents of the above link? In recent years we have noticed a change in social dynamics, the internet and globalization had a large part to play in it. Despite acceptance of western values and consumerism, we have strangely adhered to some of our old social habits.  The system of dowry for instance, has made female genocide in the villages as well as among certain wealthy classes, a matter of consequence. It is perhaps pertinent to scrutinize the psychological space that we inhabit with the changes that are flourishing all around us. The woman, largely portrayed as the mother/nurturer in popular media assumes the denomination of a "giver". It may be time to redefine the concept of a “giver”. Since our expectations of a “giver” can hold only if we allow the “giver” to be in a position to “give”. Below: Controlled Substance Abuse 2011 (also included CSA module) Modified Silk screen printing combined with acrylic on canvas 30x30 inches

Modern Day Pieta

More on the concept of a "giver", although incidental.  When I found the sketch in its dusty and discolored state, rescued by my mother from one of our giant book cases, it brought back memories from high school days when 20 paise was still in circulation and perhaps fetched a little something, however small.  It was also an acceptable alms to be given to the poor beggar woman out on the streets.  It has been a while since the Reserved Bank of India stopped minting such a tiny fraction of a currency, yet the condition of a woman and a mother has remained much the same.  She now roams the streets adorned by large bill boards advertising Coca Cola and Red Bull.  Even though she remains equally illiterate, she can perhaps distinguish a Mc Donald's from KFC.  Hence, I thought I will rejuvinate the dusty forgotten sketch from my high school days to this new identity that she has assumed : )

Connected: Isolated

Going by the assumption that all pain is psychosomatic, Connected: Isolated is a take on the principal of shared energy that alleviates pain or discomfort.  Thus the diptych with a single bee, upside down and in obvious pain, is opposite of the exact same image in a collection of hexagons in a hive. 

 Title: Connected: IsolatedSize: diptych, (24x30) each
Medium: silkscreen and sumi ink drawing