Memory is my Sixth Sense by Aparna Nori

“In a world where there is a growing appreciation for all processes handcrafted and homespun, the dark room yet again becomes a place of mystique and intrigue. Artists entering with a strong sense of conviction and direction about their work often emerge from its dark lairs laced with philosophical undertones that change the way they look at their own work. It is a necessary moulting of hardened ideas, shedding of preconceived notions and tensions, and the possibility of a new light to observe their work with. The dark room is a critical tool of this metamorphosis.

Having begun her practice in the analog era, Aparna Nori begins her second and exciting tryst with the dark room on a completely different level. Not only has she turned to photographic processes that are much older (some one hundred and fifty years old) to play with, but has consciously attempted to create new work and marry it with a process that lends itself to the expression of the story in the most meaningful way.

With her exhibition titled Memory is my Sixth Sense, Aparna presents two bodies of work, both created using the Salted Paper process. In “Nalla Pilla”, the mosaic of her skin and its many folds that hang heavily with the burden of years of slow trauma seem fragile and translucent, yet taut in its tenacity. If one lingers, the mosaic turns into a quiet celebration of the diversity of the tones – not just of the medium, but of her skin that held her together through those times. In the second work that shares the title of the exhibition, the prints depicting the couplet of Rajnigandha flowers, harbour in its visible brush strokes the many shades of emotions that are associated with the memories of her mother. The lines, like tree rings – a visible testimony to the passage of time.”

Vivek Muthuramalingam
Lens based artist & Documentarian