Benitha Perciyal
Naan Oru Penn, Yen Yennam Aayiram (Me a Woman, My Thoughts a Thousand)
2016
Frankincense, myrrh, cinnamon, cloves, lemongrass and cedar wood essential oils, gourds, sunflower seeds collected and found objects
Dimensions variable
Benitha Perciyal’s highly experimental practice emerges from her sustained engagement with materials and their unique cultural lives, and her own journey to discover the multiple facets of faith and its material manifestations. She is particularly engaged with exploring the vernacularisation of the Christian faith in India through architectural forms, traditional arts and symbolisms. Benitha is very conscious of her choice of materials used in her works. While she has worked with paints and store-bought materials, she found that she couldn’t make them speak for themselves like she would have liked. Since the last few years she has been actively foraging in flea markets to find objects that people have discarded and adopted these objects into her own life, living with them and incorporating them into her work. Currently she is deeply engaged with exploring ‘smell’ and the strong associations that they can evoke. She explains, “Restoring found objects is like our need to restore our faith (which we lose at times).... smell too disappears (and) in a way I restore my faith in life and my continuity with the transience of smell and all the material I use.” Benitha Perciyal has completed her BFA in painting and MFA in printmaking from the Government College of Arts and Crafts, Chennai. She has participated in various exhibitions since, and her recent shows include, Diary Entries curated by Gayatri Sinha, Gallery Espace (2016), and Whorled Explorations, curated by Jitish Kallat, Kochi Muziris Biennale, Cochin (2014). Her recent solos were held at Art Chennai, Chennai (2014) and Noble Sage Gallery, London (2013). She lives and works in Chennai.
Courtesy of ficart.com, naturemorte.com