about
Through its own lore, SEEMAWORLD is a sanctuary inhabited by fantastical deities - who each act as vessels and / or guardians of each strand responsible for a specific area of output.
SEEMAWORLD is framed conceptually as a theme park, becoming a visual and spatial symbol of how my work could / should be experienced - as an immersive world-built portal through which untold and lesser-told stories emerge.
Audiences therefore have individual, tailored experiences in a collective environment.
Underneath SEEMAWORLD the theme park, my deities live in a sewer - a reminder of human waste and the notions of filth, disgust, pollution and impurity attached to such a site.
By extension, the sewer is a motif for the reclamation of untouchability (a social institution and tool for exclusion by way of caste) - and acts as a storytelling catalyst for existing systems of caste to be challenged by SEEMAWORLD, through positive, authentic depictions of Valmiki culture.
This underground conduit serves as a channel for carrying ideas, thoughts, questions and plans to a point of fruition.
Each SEEMAWORLD project is assigned to a deity according to form and output.
the maternal:: deity of embodiment, maternity, eternity + the self.
youterus:: deity of resistance, subversion + untouchability.
earth:: deity of collective realities, transcendence + sapphic desire.
syahi:: deity of sonic joy, musicality, congregation + radical kindness.
gorge:: deity of research, fan labour, reflection + criticality.
boon:: deity of community, access, collaboration + creative exchange.
DEITY X PROJECT: EXAMPLE BELOW
The Scrawny Beauties of Ethni City (2023) solo exhibition at QUAD (Derby) in September 2023.
Images of immersive elements as part of this exhibition, where audiences selected one of four original SEEMAWORLD characters before entering a speculative nightclub on the planet Youterus.
Photo credit: Chris Seddon
Deity: youterus
DEITY X PROJECT: EXAMPLE BELOW
The Scrawny Beauties of Ethni City (2023) solo exhibition at QUAD (Derby) in September 2023.
During my residency with Wysing Arts Centre, I developed podCASTE (2023) - a podcast series which centres global perspectives on caste within particular areas of the world. Specifically, podCASTE (2023) sparks discussions which transcend the notorious South Asian caste system.
podCASTE (2023) episodes are presented online on Wysing Broadcasts and were a component of The Scrawny Beauties of Ethni City (2023) at QUAD, installed in bus shelters. Every fortnight, a new shelter opened up another episode in the exhibition and online.
Photo credit: Chris Seddon
Deity: gorge
