Artist Sumakshi Singh’s work includes large installations that employ a mix of painting, drawing, thread work, animation, projection-mapping and sculpture. She creates work that is layered upon pre-existing objects, stories or architectures of spaces, so these layers can take on new meaning every time they are viewed. I’m particularly fascinated by her installation titled In, Between the Pages, from 2014.

When I was pursuing my Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, I was hesitant to explore mediums beyond woodcut printmaking, as that was the focus of my study. I changed my opinion after seeing Sumakshi’s remarkable leaf-thread drawings displayed as screens and shadows on the wall, at the India Art Fair in Delhi. Upon researching her projects, I discovered the works Animated Suspension: Halfway Here and In, Between the Pages.

What struck me most was her fearlessness in experimenting with multiple mediums, which inspired me to be patient and courageous in my own artistic journey. In, Between the Pages features a range of elements including mountains, a flowing river with a boat, rich flora and fauna, and a variety of characters. There is a king and queen, as well as a number of men and women in varying roles, animals, fish and birds. The vast scene references the maritime voyages made by astronomers from Kerala between the 14th and 17th centuries, which were done in the pursuit of understanding the human position within the cosmos.

The work is imagined as a large manuscript bringing a story to life. There is a maze of 70-foot-long paper scrolls suspended from the ceiling, featuring paintings, collages as well as projected animation based on ancient Sanskrit astronomical treatises, illustrations from a 17th century compendium on Kerala’s flowers, and mythological tales of Vasco da Gama’s arrival in Calicut. It reminds me of how my mother taught me my school lessons by drawing stories to help me learn. A second projection, at the other end of the room, incorporates the viewers into the work as they are reflected back as part of the image, becoming characters in the narrative.

The animation resonates with me, as it provides a visual representation of the narratives, making them accessible to me despite my deafness. Its immersive nature creates an intimate and interactive experience and invokes my mother’s memory profoundly.

I keep returning to the work and taking more from it every time. Initially, I was struck by its beautiful composition and its emotional manner of storytelling, but later I realised that the artwork’s true value lies in its ability to encourage the audience to learn, experiment, and find enjoyment in the process of interacting with it.

My experience at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where I pursued my second Master of Fine Arts, gave me access to resources like sign-language interpretation and CART (Communication Access Realtime Translation). It was here that I could finally fully engage with this artwork and appreciate it for my enjoyment, rather than viewing it as art made for the sake of perfection or universal understanding.

Janhavi Khemka is an interdisciplinary artist from Varanasi, currently based in Chicago, US. Her congenital deafness has informed her art practice, leading her to question the meaning of language and our understanding of it.

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