Automata Series

I flew 8,448 miles to America to chase almost impossible dreams of studying for my MFA at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in August 2020. This transition was a cultural shock, and I encountered a contrasting social-cultural structure in the USA that made me uncomfortable and vulnerable. From the lens of the Indian perspective, I noticed contrasting things in a self-reliant world like loneliness, self-isolation, and lack of socialization. Under a pandemic situation, my encounters with newer cultures became double. I became so intrigued by performance art and social art practice during my MFA program. I chose performance art to explore my self-isolation, alienation, and loneliness. Performance art made me think about expressing this uncanny situation through my body. Consumerism made me think about ready-mades for my performance art. I bought an online machine-printed one-piece costume that can cover my head also. This costume helped me to maintain anonymity. I made a series of performances, celebrating my isolation in a new cultural setting. In this way, my encounters with loneliness are explored in a new socio-cultural context. It was an attempt to explore cultural differences.