Both these pieces were selected in the first ICAF initiative on a concept of “The Proverbial Wardrobe” and showcased in Kalakriti Gallery in March 2023

1.    The Elephant in the Room (Stoneware I Temp 1228)
The meaning of this expression “the elephant in the room” is a metaphorical idiom, for an important topic, question, or controversial issue that is obvious or that everyone knows about but no one mentions or wants to discuss because it makes at least some of them uncomfortable. The discussion of carbon footprint, SDG Goals, climate change and sustainability is happening for sometime now. However deals get done, business handshakes made without  foolproof checks on abiding by sustainable business practices and climate change compliance.

The scene, is one of the corporate parties where business deals get discussed over drinks and cocktail. The underlying goals on climate change are lost in the din of possible profits to the government and corporates. They are talking of everything else, avoiding the elephant in the room. Ignoring the really issue of compliance to climate change commitments. The time clock is in years speaking about how from 2022 we are literally on a ticking time bomb of natural disasters, and we need to act NOW. I used the colours black and white to denote that we cannot have a PLAN B, so far as the planet is concerned. The alphabet blocks denote the games the powerful still play. Written on the blocks, Climate Change, with the ‘T’ missing as we are running out of time. Yet, we carry on uninfluenced.

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2. The Whole Nine Yards (Stoneware Clay I Temp 1228)
This idiom means everything that one can want, or do in a particular situation. I chose this idiom to be put in the form of a saree, as the nine yard saree or ‘madisar’ was worn during religious and special occasions. The occasion ‘Now’ or ‘present’ is of importance marking the urgency to act on the climate change. The slogans across the three parts, which includes the first fold, the ‘kuchi’ and the ‘aanchal’, concentrates of the life in water, trees and land. It speaks of the trash that we are filling the seas with making life for sea animals difficult, the importance of planting trees to reduce emissions and carbon from the atmosphere. This was made when the COP27 was going on in Egypt, and my appeal continues to be towards a greener planet earth, with every country seriously working towards getting to NET ZERO. To preserve this habitable planet we have breached a lot of levels.
Net, net, let’s go all the whole nine yards to 2030 commitments.