The Embrace
My present artwork ‘The Embrace’ aims to reveal the disguised social taboo of homosexuality that is still prevalent and practised within contemporary Indian families and societies.
For many years on end homosexuality in India was seen as an ‘unnatural union’ between two same sex individuals that ought to be punished by the law. It was not until fairly recently (6th September 2018) when homosexuality was legalised by India’s highest judicial system, thereby ‘LEGALLY’ bringing an end to the criminalisation of same-sex relationships. Nevertheless, the battle is far from over since majority of Indian families still perceive same-sex relations as an unthinkable disease, thereby leading to hate crimes and ‘honour killings’. This sheer hatred towards homosexuality within Indian families and society is due to the genealogical understanding of its pre-existing social norms based on a singular knowledge, that is the union between a man and a woman and the reproduction of a new generation. With the rise of unconventional relationships these pre-ordained societal customs has come under scrutinised questioning with a growing fear that homosexual unions will lead to the deterioration of Indian values, its customs, and the whole structural integrity of society.
My present artwork ‘THE EMBRACE’, exemplifies this harrowing struggle of unconventional bonds, that is - one cannot love the other freely in order to live without inhibition. In this art piece, I portray two Indian men in their traditional attire trying to repress their love by partially embracing each other as they are conscious and mindful of the glances and staring looks from passerby’s. Through this art, I represent the antiquated mentality and the grittiness towards homosexuality that still prevails in contemporary Indian society; and to illustrate this, I chose different forms of grey’s and blacks to the off-white background, combining the colours with hatching, cross-hatching and scribbling techniques. The only pop of colour in this piece are the two identical ‘Forget Me Not’ flowers symbolising their faithfulness, respect and true love for each other.
As an artist, I received both positive and negative remarks on social media platforms from Indian viewers especially criticising the message portrayed through this artwork. Such mindsets however, does not discourage me, rather it makes me feel optimistic that I have opened up the conversation. After all, the objective of my present art piece is to draw people out of their comfort zone and engage them critically with our social environment.
Print
62.6 x 56.4 x 5
£355.00
No. pieces
1
Medium
Procreate on iPad with iPencil with the use of Procreate oil pastels, ink pens, and sketch pencils.
