(Via Beautiful Decay)
Huma Bhabha is not unlike a medieval alchemist, transmuting discarded materials into works of art—morphing civilization’s dusty detritus into works of stunning beauty. They freely collapse ideological mores, the annals of history, contemporary art, yet transcend concretized fact or fiction. Instead, they resurrect their charred faces, standing as relics from a near distant future, or war-ravaged effigies to a post-apocalyptic past. This practice of temporal and physical shape-shifting seems to be both esoteric and playful at once—Bhabha notes that “turning lead into gold, or at least trying…is more interesting than just using gold.” Her visceral effigies are perhaps best described as “anti-monuments;” her works, in their materiality, do not desire permanence—rather, Bhabha formalizes their very transience through her use of ephemeral, corruptible and humble materials.
Read the whole studio visit on Beautiful Decay.
For more info on Huma Bhabha, visit www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk
Image credits:
Untitled
2006
Clay, wire, plastic, paint
114.3 x 243.8 x 152.4 cm
A.B.
2006
painted bronze
113 x 48.3 x 25.4 cm
Sell the House
2006
Mixed Media
139.7 x 96.5 x 71.1cm
Museum Without Walls
2005
Clay, wire, wood, Styrofoam
89 x 63.5 x 86.4 cm
Waiting for a Friend
2003
Threaded steel rod, Styrofoam, wood, clay, paint
231.1 x 71.1 x 45.7cm
International Monument
2003
Clay, wire, Styrofoam, bone
61 x 81.3 x 43.2 cm
Man of No Importance
2006
clay, wire, wood, bones, iron, cotton, fabric, glass
165.1 x 104.1 x 76.2 cm
Untitled Drawing
2007
watercolour, pastel, pencil, ink on paper, mounted on board
40.4 x 30.4 cm
The Orientalist
2007
Bronze
104.1 x 83.8 x 177.8 cm