In ‘Fictional Landscapes’, I manipulate photographs, videos and objects to challenge our perception of time and history. In the series ‘Illumination’ I objectify my desire to restore by patching the crumbling facade of the buildings with Gold. The use of this lustrous element is not based on pure aesthetic reasoning, but rather for its symbology in various cultures to represent transformation. The universality of the concept is explored further in the site-specific installation at the Averard Hotel, London, where photographs of the Ginger Factory in Kochi have a portentous resemblance to the walls of the space, thus creating a disruption between aesthetic representation and ordinary perception.

Similar to an archaeological dig, I study the past through found objects by drawing inspiration from older techniques of representation. In ‘Reliquaries – A Coat, A Corset, A Jacket’ I perform my own survey through employing an old photographic process that is inspired by the paper negatives of the calotype process of the 1850’s. The resulting effect of this is similar to x-rays of archaeological objects, information of the past being revealed to us through visual representation.

Just as the objects in ‘Reliquaries’ are explored, surveyed, and extracted from their space and reality, the abstract black and white photographs in ‘The Mesh’ eliminate any hint of their referent. In this case, a steel perforated sheet covering the windows of a dilapidated historical building. By disturbing photography’s indexical relationship, a new visual resonance is found with the Islamic architectural tradition of Jaali, a carved panel of wood or stone set against a window frame that throws patterns of light into a room. The stark contrast between the gentility of the patterns and their source, the steel barrier, is seen as a sign. This process of finding and observing reveals to us possibility for the past to gain new meaning.

In ‘The Dig 1’, a young man attempts to repair a wooden screen, an action that is played out and repeated as the viewer moves through the sequence of the lenticular print. These cycles of fragmented moments reveal the futility of his actions as the screen is never fully repaired. The outcome is inevitable no matter how many times it unfolds.

Diametrically opposite to this however is the piece ‘Stimulation’, a video displaying the whimsical act of digital manipulation through a mouse cursor as it transforms and renovates a large period property. Unlike ‘The Dig 1’, the viewer has no say in the way the act plays out. Instead, the rapidity in the motion of the cursor and the naivety of the performance allows the viewer to be carried away while denying them of participation.

The work ‘Crescent’ a monumental sculptural installation site-specific for Unit 7, constitutes scaffolding elements, geotextile membrane and light. Here I explore the material force of these different elements and to bring audiences in contact with the delicate latticework that functions at the heart of every intricate construction.

The use of multiple mediums stands out for its ability to capture a changing urban environment and the imprint humans leave on their cities and buildings. In either monochrome studies of the small details of large installation works or in medium-format photography of urban construction sites retouched with gold-leaf, the mechanical and solid environments that compose our daily lives are revealed. These different approaches of salvaging the past seem to offer an insight to the nature of human action. It shows the complex paradox of our relationship with history and possible futures as we are both participants and at the same time ineffectual audiences.