Artist 18
Nalini Malani
In search of vanished blood
Nalini Malani is a contemporary Indian artist, who is one of India’s foremost video and installation artist and a committed activist for women’s rights.
Malani's work is influenced by her experiences as a refugee of the Partition of India. She places pressure on inherited imagery and cherished cultural stereotypes.
She pushes dimensions of the pictorial surface into the surrounding space through ephemeral wall drawing, installation, shadow play, multi projection works and theatre.
Today’s focus will be on her installation ‘In Search of Vanished Blood’ is a seminal installation.
The installation combines imagery from Eastern and Western cultures, with sound, projected image, and light creating an immersive experience. The work comprises six 11-minute video streamed around the room through five clear cylinders which have been hand-painted.
As they rotate, the colorful and layered imagery is projected onto the walls, creating a environment reminiscent of lantern slide presentations in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Her art combines different cultures in a celebration of cross pollination. This creative way of painting and reflecting the struggling female artist being disregarded. Malani’s recurring female figures address women’s issues and her attempts to be heard. She took inspiration from the book Cassandra.
Art is a unique platform to express emotion and use your voice in a all inclusive sensory way that words often lack.
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