A Note on Intimate Geographies

Abstract

India, the country of my birth, has been a longstanding obsession of mine. Even though the greater portion of my life has been spent outside of its borders, it has never ceased to be a figment of fantasy, a place of epic proportions beyond facts. I had the privilege of returning to the country— living in Calcutta briefly, and then Bombay—between 2006 and 2017. It was a time that yielded a much sought after intimacy with a culture, with a place. For a selfproclaimed nomad, the time spent there meant a great deal to me. As an artist, it is the firmament upon which I stand. The four handdrawn illustrations in this book were specially commissioned by Maura Finkelstein. I am grateful to her for giving me free rein to interpret the four maps of India, the states of Uttar Pradesh/Bihar and Maharashtra, and the city of Bombay. Central Bombay, where much of the author’s research takes place, was also the location of my most recent solo exhibition. I worked within the compound of the old textile mill central to this monograph, in one of the magnificent crumbling rooms, to produce many of the works. I can still smell the mold and visualize the old, crackling walls. These drawings are an assimilation of my lived experience. Although I referenced nineteenthcentury anatomical illustrations, I fancy the resulting marks as resembling a form of hieroglyphics. I wanted to internalize what India means to me and, undoubtedly, what it means to all those who labor for love in forgotten spaces. These are maps that reimagine political maps as the body turned inside out. The personal is political—if you will.