Interwoven: Muscat based artist refreshes architectural legacy of Kerala in Fort Kochi
Artist Elizabeth Davis’s maiden solo show Interwoven at David Hall in Fort Kochi offers a refreshing perspective of God’s Own Country through her works that use photography, prints, weaving, painting, and paper art.
Navigating viewers through the lanes of classical Kerala, Elizabeth’s replicates the architecture, textile and culture of native people on various medium like canvas and the frames with disjointed prints often pasted over with woven palm leaves, a pouplar craft of Kerala. She reconstructs images by burning & defacing to give them a new identity and unique interpretation of the old and the obvious.
Astonishingly, the three-dimensional set up of her work at Santa Cruz Cathedral Basilica and backwaters in Fort Kochi is adorned as triangular ridges of the coloured print of the grand church and scenery pasted onto another colour print of the same.
Works on display include common images of the State using various techniques such as weaving, paper folding, burning, photography, and painting. The famous men and women of Kerala are presented on “ morams” or the winnowing woven tray, and kathakali dancers meld in a frame (Mukha Mukhi) presenting a matted pastiche complete the wholesome picture of Kerala tradition.
Apart form this a charming handmade sketch book, ‘Kiki Goes To Corniche,’ at the show, is a recent work, done for her granddaughter, Kiara. An interactive travelogue for children, the illustrations are made using pen, watercolors and paper craft.
She created mixed media works using the hours of solitude during the 10 days quarantined on arrival from Muscat in January 2022. Isolated in “an upstairs room” made her reminisce their childhood, growing years, famous personalities of Kerala, family, people, and the iconic architectural legacy of Kochi, hence she revisited old images, photos, prints and conceptualised the works.
Her work ‘Ammamma’ is inspired by the fond memories if her grandmother who used to wear the typical starched white chatta mundu, mekka mothirams on her ears, and a gold rosary and a black scapular around her neck.
