Curry sculpture ... the first in the world of Art

Looks like curry, smells like curry
















In 2005, Stuart Hahn and I discussed a possible collaboration based on mutual interest in Indian Art. We set out to work separately, with the intention of meeting from time to time to discuss our directions. I found myself drawn to the journey from indenture to the challenges faced by Indo Trinbagonians today. This piece is ( high and wide) made of the traditional material of clay, he is based on an incident that happened in 2005.

Every year there is flooding in central Trinidad because it is a low lying area. People lose livestock, crops and their personal belongings. Every year in the media people are seen complaining about drainage and begging the government to be more pro active about the problem. This gentleman and his neighbours were so fed up about the flooding that they decided that while protesting in the knee deep flood waters, they would also take a drink and play a bit of music. In other words, an excuse to fete a bit. This struck me as both poignant and representative of a fast changing Trinidad and Tobago, where people tried to take problems in stride and chose not to lash out at every inconvenience.

The idea to use curry came from the thought of using dust, and the material, clay. I wanted to look at natural materials and the history of these materials, here in Trinidad and Tobago, as well as the cliches about culture .Thus curry sends a clear message about perceptions. ~ Adele

Work from the proposed exhibition on India

This is one of the several pieces I was offering to show with Adele in our exhibition based on the presence of India in Trinidad, which we were coming to from very different but, I think, complimentary angles. My own angle was firmly based on the miniature illuminations of the great Hindu/Muslim traditions of India and the eroticism and pornography of the Kama Sutra and the amazing temples of the southern regions of that continent. The work is small, but not small enough to qualify as miniature. The medium is pen and colored pencil, combinations of the two, or ink only, to retain the purity of the line.

The major question I have always asked is how this work would be viewed in conservative Trinidad (where I still hear simple nudes defamed as nasty pornography), and where would be the best place to exhibit it. Recently, artists with work of erotic content have used their homes as venues for their exhibitions, but it seems to me that eroticism really needs to be seen by as wide an audience as possible, if only to expose it to what the rest of the world takes more and more for granted – the natural unreserved and un-hypocritical enjoyment of sex in all its wonderful and limitless diversity! - Stuart