Crank up the System, KMB Artist Sabitha Kadannappally Seems to Say

KOCHI:
Movements and systems mark life—social, cultural and political, within families and self. Adherence, opposition, deviation, neutral stand and the daily confrontations with ‘do or not to do’ to the systems and movements, their consequences and the reactions keep circling round.

Sabitha Kadanappally’s sculptures, ‘Square the Circle (2025); Journey of Life’, and ‘Where/How the Buds Start’, bring out this subtle day-to-day navigation between individual freedom and rules, conditions, beliefs, mostly outdated, restricting thoughts and actions under pressure, tension and confusion. They delve into emotions arising from influences of living and non-living things too. A bundle of emotions that makes or mars a person. The works explore the materials as well.

The installations are featured in Island Warehouse, Willingdon Island, as part of the nearly four-month-long Kochi-Muziris Biennale (KMB) running through March 31.

The cranking sound from the 10 sculptures, each comprising a modern semi-circular dish-antenna-like metal piece over which unbleached off-white squarish cotton cloth layers in different patterns are held by old-fashioned crankshafts of different makes and shapes.

The motorised cranks— hammer-like, wheel shaped, rectangle and others, hardly seen today, mark the soft and fair fabric. Minimalistic, each part of the installations is symbolic and layered with meaning, of the past, present and future, both at individual and universal levels.

She juxtaposes movement with stillness; the hard metal with the soft cotton fabric and their colours— black and white. The marks made by the machine and corrosive action of iron have much to say. They are like impediments one encounters with outdated thoughts and actions. The cloth could be presence or the body.

“My work with fabric began as an experiment but evolved into a study of the handloom and its inherent dilemmas. I see cloth as a medium to break through the socio-economic and ecological constraints I encountered during my education. Its semi-transparent nature represents the human mind and society; it’s a raw material and finished product, capable of being fragile and reinforced,” said Sabitha, who is now essaying metal as well.

“It’s difficult to detach myself from community and global problems as I have seen different facets of inequality, economic imbalance, discrimination, violence, and insecurity from childhood. My experiences at home and environs have shaped me,” pointed out the artists, who explores self and outside influences. Her personal idioms connect with the universal.

“I view the world through experiences finding reflections in our environment, the natural and manmade products. While birth and death remain consistent, existence depends on environs and necessity; triggering emotions, many too subtle to explain. In a world of conflicting opinions, existence can feel like a travesty. I constantly question: Why should it exist, how long should it exist, and for whom?” she said

Sabitha delves into the nuances of growing up amid social norms and conditioning. From childhood, rules curb freedom, especially for girls, in the name of security and protection. Questions pound life’s journey while looking back and forth in ‘Journey of Life’ in which long steel rods pierce into large squarish off-white cotton cloth pieces at equidistant intervals suspended above, two green leaves emerging from one rod spurring conversation.

Her works are minimalistic yet full of meaning. “It’s about the three stages in life,” she said.

Her other work is about character formation in childhood depending on conditioning, environs and needs.

“The living and non-living are directly or indirectly connected, I see them as ‘connecting points’ within a larger system. On analysing gender, social structures, and global perspectives, satires loom large. There is a killer and destroyer element in everything and, in some cases, they are the same. I have come to see myself as a satirical element, both killer and protector—introducing tragic themes through visual glorification. My work has shifted from focusing purely on the ‘character’ of a form to emphasising the ideas and feelings evoked by seeing the work,” she said.

The cranking goes on, triggering dialogue.