The Idea of South (I-III)
Parumveer Walia
See it On Campus: Level 2
The Idea of South (I-III) examines desire in the Global South through diasporic aesthetics, unveiling the sensuous, mysterious, and unfixable nature of gazing. The three light boxes frame the viewer ambiguously – perhaps a lover, perhaps a voyeur. Hiding in plain sight, the unstated teems with the desire to uncover and touch.
An idyllic, fantastical view images waiting, singular figures but teems with a somewhat morose, perverse, undecidedness. Despite their stillness and austerity, the images beset motion, suggesting the forthcoming, unsure moment.
Through the form of the miniature, the work borrows from the traditions of Mughal and Persian miniature painting, imaging the contemporary South Asian subject in an intimate and grounded scale. The light box appropriates the Western form, consuming the canon to re-imagine and configure new possibilities.
