Immersion Series

This work seeks to bridge the complexities between preserving one of the oldest traditions in the world while also protecting one of our most essential natural resources, water. In Hindu tradition, deities visit the earthly realm, housed within the vessel of an idol sculpture.  At the end of a week-long puja celebration, the entity/sculpture is submerged, ideally in water flowing from the Ganges River, to release the gods back into their spiritual world.

These immersion rituals have taken a toll on India’s waterways, where restrictions have been put in place to decrease the environmental impact of this practice. However, that leads to curbsides becoming cluttered with dozens upon dozens of discarded idols, each awaiting garbage disposal without fully realizing the traditional spiritual rites

Photographs were made of these abandoned idols and broken pieces which I then submerged within the Hooghly River, a distributary of the Ganges River and thus considered sacred.  Boatmen guarded the pieces over several days as tides rose and fell (keeping prints submerged for a suggested amount of time which an idol might be left behind).  The artworks revealed the same signs of decay as statues dredged from the river.

The large image of a cracked Saraswati was collected by the river commission in a clean sweep of the riverbank during low tide.  This and another print were said to have been swept away in a strong current during another attempt.  Later, a local told me he suspected that it was no coincidence that the same image kept disappearing, as it contained a full likeness of the goddess.

For my third effort with this image, I dipped the page into the river.  After the momentary immersion of this print, I used string commonly used in puja observance to mend a fracture; however, using a traditional Kantha stitch which is a form of embroidery, not practical for piecing things together.

——

As an offshoot of the Immersion series, I brought back a jar of Ganga water, infusing some of my photo emulsions with drops of sacred water. Here, a bowl, banana leaf and string sat at the edge of a pond after being used for a puja ritual.

—-