suspended states series (2020-2021)
Created during the national lockdowns of 2020 and 2021, Suspended States explores the psychological landscapes of extreme physical restriction. With the domestic space suddenly transformed into an absolute boundary, the external world was reduced to the strict, geometric framing of residential windowpanes.
Acting as a subconscious reaction to this physical entrapment, these paintings on paper explore internal spaces. Works such as Night Rider and Beyond the Underworld move away from the stark reality of the window frame, presenting brooding, intensely coloured nocturnal environments that blur the line between isolation and dreamscape.
Serving as the literal, documentary counterpart to these paintings is the short film Boundaries (2021), which anchors the series by recording the exact physical constraints of the period.
works on paper
Beyond the Underworld (2020)
Oil and acrylic on paper
39 x 27 cm
Night Rider (2021)
Oil and acrylic on paper
84 x 60 cm
Night Crawl (2021)
Oil and acrylic on paper
84 x 60 cm
31.07.20 (2020)
Oil and acrylic on paper
38 x 28 cm
Private Collection
1:15am (2020)
Oil and acrylic on paper
38 x 28 cm
Shanta’s Apple Tree (2020)
Oil and acrylic on paper
38 x 28 cm
Private Collection
Wonderland (2020)
Oil and acrylic on paper
38 x 28 cm
film
Drawing on the transcendental style of cinema, Boundaries deliberately utilises long, static pauses (often referred to as 'dead time') to transform boredom into an aesthetic tool, pulling the viewer into a hypnotic, time-warped state. Processed with a high-contrast, black-and-white aesthetic, it
strips away contemporary markers to create a timeless, eerie claustrophobia. This underlying anxiety is further heightened by an oppressive soundscape constructed from the distorted, manipulated audio of heavy rain.
Boundaries (2021)
Digital film, black and white, sound
Duration: 51 seconds