Untitled Collage

Shaila Nambiar was born in 1977, in India. Studied at the Maharaja Sayajirao University, Fine arts, Baroda 2000. Glorification of tradition is indisputably accepted by commissioners of art and also by audiences. But when an artist addresses non-conformist generic themes the sensibilities of the custodians of art as well as the audiences are disturbed giving scope to disruptive discourses. And these very disruptive discourses take a serious tone in the hands of a few progressive artists. Shaila Nambiar belongs to the progressive category of art practitioners who questions the subconscious politicking of gender biases. Her creative process is an enquiry into gender politics which initiates at the level of innocent observations to gradually transform into investigations and ultimately shapes into sculptural objects which are creative reactions and stand taken against societal hypocrisy. If we scrutinize enough there is a definite parallel in John Berger’s statement published in the influential book “Ways of Seeing” - chapter three. He writes: “Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at. This determines not only most relations between men and women but also the relation of women to themselves. The surveyor of woman in herself is male: the surveyed female. This she turns herself into an object - and most particularly an object of vision: a sight.” Well, when John Berger published these thoughts he indicated a psychological and dormant aspect of human psyche, which perceived women as objects. Also, the artist is convinced: “The idea of natural beauty is long lost. Women's body is constantly under scrutiny and is used as an object, trying to redefine 'perfection’. Perception of beauty has changed over the years due to mass media and this distorted perception is affecting women's self esteem”. In her works varied materials narrate the thought processes. Hence it goes without saying that the artist likes to work with different materials like textiles, paper, metal, fibre cast and photography. Between perception and creation, the objects take a humanized treatment in the hands of the artist wherein the sentiment of the creator gets pronounced. Forming and deforming of the object happens simultaneously. The sculpture or the object meets the eye of the spectator as a product of rebellion. It’s equally fascinating to know what Shaila has to say about the media applied.