THE VESSEL
SERIES III (2015)
A white ceramic vase hangs from the ceiling; its neck is sliced so that a plait of black hair can rise from it to the ceiling. Along with it you can hear a voice recording repeatedly say ‘I’m a grown woman afraid of stepping out of the house beyond 9:30, don’t let your hair down they, you may attract the wrong kind of eye, I feel suffocated, strangled, are we only a vessel for procreation?
The work is a response to the 2012 bus gang rape in New Delhi, India. It is a revolt against the oppression a society has forced on women and a lack of freedom due to fear. The work instantly takes one to visions of oppression, hanging and death. The vase is a domestic item used for decoration purposes.
I raise the question, are women only objects of decoration?
Is that what society expects of them?
Ceramic Vase, Hair, String, Audio