‘The Unapologetic Lore of Chitra Ganesh’, Papercuts, vol 15, by Saira Ansari

Feminine, feminist, maker, breaker, aggressive, sensual, intelligent, curious; these are all the qualities that define Chitra’s protagonists. Much of the artist’s practice has been preoccupied with both acknowledging and challenging a monolithic Indian feminine ideal, and that means engaging with the baggage that comes with it. She challenges the normative ideals and expectations that came from the community she grew up in to conform to a vision of the good Indian girl who should find success in a family life of her own.

An acid colour landscape sets the backdrop to multiple naked Indian women, some looking straight at you – the dark brown skin, the long shiny black hair, the big kohl rimmed eyes fiting a clichéd, albeit necessary, characterization. However, one’s unfazed stare, another’s legs unapologetically spread apart, pink vulva-like gaping openings in the stomach, and comfortably dismembered limbs are not so stereotypical, and definitely not easy to digest. Here stand some of Chitra Ganesh’s many manifestations. Part goddess, part street urchin, the figures fit into a unique universe of fantasy, horror and ecstatic dreamscapes.

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