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Ouroborus

2011

Ouroborus

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Ouroborus
Ouroborus
Ouroborus
Ouroborus
Ouroborus
Ouroborus
Ouroborus
Ouroborus
Ouroborus
Ouroborus
Ouroborus
Ouroborus
Ouroborus
Ouroborus
Ouroborus
Ouroborus
Ouroborus
Ouroborus

About The Performance


Grid of 84 archival prints of self-portraits, of 10x10inch.


The cycle of life revolves around birth, death and the eventual liberation from mortality. All forms of life follow this universal truth of existence and exaltation. It is my belief that all myths, which are at the crux of all faith, evolve out of and around this Law of Nature. In Ouroboros, I attempted to understand various conceptions of immortality through performance and an audio-visual exploration. 

I began by first delving into depictions and interpretations of mystical laws in various cultures. Through my research, I stumbled upon Ouroboros, a mythical, coiled, self-sustaining serpent that swallows its own tail to recreate itself. Often drawn half in the light and half in the dark, I found the image to echo more universally recognised symbols such as the Yin Yang, which illustrates the dual nature of all things. Many of these symbols emphasise that opposites are not in conflict with each other. That they are, in fact, in divine harmony.

Ouroboros thus emerged out of an amalgamation of this research and Ardhnarashwar, a previous series of 84 10×10 inch paintings that express different births, yonis and species. Both works depict the constant harmony of energy present in the Universal Laws of Nature, what I call the Wheel of Time. 

Although we seem to experience time as a line, I realised through Ouroboros that life is actually a wheel of eternal return. Souls experience different emotions, forms and births in cycles that repeatedly commence, end and, then, begin anew.

“The living being had no need of eyes when there was nothing remaining outside him to be seen; nor of ears when there was nothing to be heard; and there was no surrounding atmosphere to be breathed; nor would there have been any use of organs by the help of which he might receive his food or get rid of what he had already digested, since there was nothing which went from him or came into him: for there was nothing beside him. Of design he was created thus, his own waste providing his own food, and all that he did or suffered taking place in and by himself. For the Creator conceived that a being which was self-sufficient would be far more excellent than one which lacked anything; and, as he had no need to take anything or defend himself against any one, the Creator did not think it necessary to bestow upon him hands: nor had he any need of feet, nor of the whole apparatus of walking; but the movement suited to his spherical form was assigned to him, being of all the seven that which is most appropriate to mind and intelligence; and he was made to move in the same manner and on the same spot, within his own limits revolving in a circle. All the other six motions were taken away from him, and he was made not to partake of their deviations. And as this circular movement required no feet, the universe was created without legs and without feet.”

– Plato in Timaeus

EXHIBITIONS
  • ALL
  • CANVAS —
  • ACRYLIC ON CANVAS
  • ARCHIVAL PRINT
  • DRAWING
  • OIL ON CANVAS
  • PAINTING ON WOOD
  • PAPERWORKS —
  • ARCHIVAL PHOTOGRAPHIC WORKS / DRAWINGS
  • ETCHING
  • LITHOGRAPHS
  • PAINTINGS
  • SERIGRAPHS
  • WOODCUT
  • ZINC PLATE INTAGLIO PRINT
  • SCULPTURES —
  • BRONZE
  • GLASS-REINFORCED POLYMER
  • PAINTINGS
  • SANDSTONE
  • TERRACOTTA
  • WOODEN
  • THREADWORKS —
  • CLOTH
  • EMBROIDERY
  • WOODWORKS —
  • ACRYLIC ON WOOD
  • ALL
  • CANVAS —
  • ACRYLIC ON CANVAS
  • ARCHIVAL PRINT
  • DRAWING
  • OIL ON CANVAS
  • PAINTING ON WOOD
  • PAPERWORKS —
  • ARCHIVAL PHOTOGRAPHIC WORKS / DRAWINGS
  • ETCHING
  • LITHOGRAPHS
  • PAINTINGS
  • SERIGRAPHS
  • WOODCUT
  • ZINC PLATE INTAGLIO PRINT
  • SCULPTURES —
  • BRONZE
  • GLASS-REINFORCED POLYMER
  • PAINTINGS
  • SANDSTONE
  • TERRACOTTA
  • WOODEN
  • THREADWORKS —
  • CLOTH
  • EMBROIDERY
  • WOODWORKS —
  • ACRYLIC ON WOOD
  • ALL
  • ART FAIR/ BIENNALES
  • CANVAS
Bodies of Work
  • ALL
  • HERBS OF INHERITANCE
  • KHULA AASMAN
  • MOON MYTHS
  • SAPTA MATRIKA
  • SHAKTI
  • TANTRA
  • THE GOLDEN WOMB SERIES
  • TREE OF LIFE
  • YOGINIS
  • ALL
  • ARTICLES
  • EXHIBITIONS
  • PAINTINGS
  • PERFORMANCES