Sarika Bajaj Requiem

The artist’s work investigates and highlights the multi-dimensional aspects of people’s relationship with nature. She works with flora, birds, roots and branches of trees and other organic forms. Her recent work includes bird feathers, emphasizing the environmental threat that species face in a rapidly urbanized world. Current ecological concerns such as climate change and the loss of habitat pose a threat to birds worldwide. Birds have played a pivotal role in human history and have strong mythological and cultural references. Historically, an elaborate language has developed around feathers. Bird feathers play an important role in rituals around the world and are thought to possess healing energies. Many cultures see birds as symbols of transcendence. She employs repetitive and labour-intensive techniques such as sewing, knotting, twisting, ravelling and unravelling to generate forms of distinct symbolism. The artist attributes her use of feathers to the place birds have in mythology and their ritual presence in Indigenous cultures around the world.