Auspiciously Red III

Meher wraps a chandelier in red wool, transforming it, challenging its function, and assigning it new meanings. The work is temporal, simultaneously referring to the past and the present. The act of wrapping red wool is time-consuming and repetitive, highlighting the meditative process that the work’s making entails. Metaphorically, the chandelier represents female Shakti – the giver of light – by layering it with a red skin which appears to be dripping blood the object denotes the visceral and violent attacks on women.

Monali Meher graduated in Fine Arts from Sir J.J School of Arts, Mumbai. Her practise traverses various disciplines focusing primarily on installation and performance. Her works engaged with the process of making the art work; rather than the finished product, she employs notions of time such as continuity, repetition, duration, and temporality to address ideas surrounding memory, relationships and belonging.

The work was featured as part of the exhibition 'Connecting Threads: Textiles in Contemporary Practice'. The exhibition was curated by Tasneem Zakaria Mehta and Puja Vaish and attempts to trace textile practices, traditions and histories in Contemporary Indian Art.