Sometime towards the end of 2019, while researching land ownership laws and forest rights that govern the land of Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers in India, I came across images of mining sites and quarries, and was struck by the monumental quality of these spaces that had been carved out over decades. The absence of something can be a powerful reminder of what we leave behind. 

The progression To Forget, To Regret, To Remember, reflects on my relation to these spaces, which have been carved over time to provide raw materials and power to urban settlements. 

Due to the pandemic I wasn’t able to visit these spaces, so I began to paint over images that I found on the internet; each painting becomes a portrait of a land in constant flux, and is imbued with an inherent sense of dislocation and anonymity.