Regarding the Pain of Others

In Varunika Saraf’s most recent show Caput Mortuum at Chemould Prescott Road, Mumbai, held from the 25th of November to the 31st of December, 2021, material serves as metaphor: Saraf uses the iron oxide caput mortuum, which resembles dried blood, to symbolise decay and decline, and the carmine extracted from the cochineal scale insect to refer to the blood that continues to be spilt in public life. Many of the images in her paintings echo photographs that appear in newspapers every day and depict growing disenfranchisement on the basis of caste, class and religion. Here, Saraf talks to Zeenat Nagree about the role of an artist in such a divisive political climate, and answers questions about representing contemporary violence through a study of imagery and techniques from the past.

- Zeenat Nagree

Zeenat Nagree: You describe your practice as a process that includes ‘documenting’ and ‘bearing witness’, which you undertake through research and painting. Could you tell us more about your vision of the role of the artist in society?

Varunika Saraf: I cannot make art disconnected from the time we are inhabiting or maintain silence on what we are experiencing as a society. Through my work, I am presenting the portents that have been appearing around us. We all have to collectively think about whether these signs are of public concern or not. The exhibition Caput Mortuum does not dictate. It simply raises what I feel are pertinent questions that we urgently need to address. How do we stop the exponential rise of violence? Is it still possible to dream of an egalitarian society? Can we find love and hope amidst hate? Will we be able to heal the festering sores that riddle our world? How long will we continue to remain silent? In this sense, I believe the role of an artist is to both hold a mirror to the society that we live in and imagine better futures, to firmly say that another world is possible.

Varunika Saraf. What Else Is Left for Tomorrow to Bring? Watercolor on Wasli backed with cotton textile. 67”x 76”. 2020.

ZN: What has it meant to work in isolation during the pandemic, when the spaces to assemble for dissent have shrunk out of necessity as well as political cunning?