Construction Works
The inspiration for my recent series comes from a construction site I happened to visit during my recent trip back to my hometown – Pune, India. Migrant workers typically live at such a construction site, making it their temporary “home”. The quick glimpse of their life that I experienced intrigued as well as moved me and raised in my mind questions about acceptance, creation and accomplishment. It is these questions that I explore through this series. Through oil and mixed media paintings I try to bring out the labourers’ strength of character, their quiet acceptance of a hard way of life, and their diligence in doing the task at hand, however monotonous or risky in a meditative, dutiful way. These labourers work with their (often bare) hands, and carry heavy loads on their heads, protected by a mere piece of cloth, both of which figure prominently through the series. My large-scale charcoal, acrylic and ink drawings explore the juxtaposition of figures with the strict geometry of construction, to create an almost abstract space. Construction workers almost never figure in our appreciation of a beautifully finished building; they are the nameless and the forgotten. I am motivated to convey a sense of accomplishment for the workers, portraying them as the creators of something monumental and beautiful – an integral part of the finished product. This series is a reminder of this “behind the scenes” world of the labourers that we often overlook. This is indeed a celebration of their work.
