Interview with Aman Aheer
1. Some images related to the body often appear in your works (fingers, eyes, feet) Why do you focus on the body?
I enjoy how malleable bodies are. I enjoy manipulating the body, extending the arms or legs, playing with proportions to highlight certain aspects, rejecting anatomical correctness or biological fidelity in favour of crude, animal-like forms. Even when I make an abstract or seemingly abstract work, it almost always begins with figuration and a zooming in on some part of the body. Sometimes I use the body to remind myself and perhaps others of its limitations – that we are grounded and finite, that we decay, that we lose limbs, that we are not birds, that we are not Gods.
2. Whether it is the body or other real objects (such as flowers and animals), your works pay special attention to local parts or details. Why is this?
So much can be said with a gesture; whether it’s the direction a finger is pointing, or an eye is looking, the curl of a flower petal, the clenching of a fist. Because of that I don't always find it necessary to depict a figure or an object in its entirety, in fact it can be distracting at times especially when there is something specific I want to get across. I am interested in what happens or is revealed when we focus in on the “minor details” and what might seem insignificant or can be overlooked. I’m never satisfied when my work is too open ended, so by focusing on segmented parts of a figure or object, I am able to create perimeters that the viewer can work within.
3. Is your concern related to your growth experience, especially the presence of prayer and yoga movements in your works? I know you are of Indian descent. How have the culture and beliefs there influenced you?
So much can be said with a gesture; whether it’s the direction a finger is pointing, or an eye is looking, the curl of a flower petal, the clenching of a fist. Because of that I don't always find it necessary to depict a figure or an object in its entirety, in fact it can be distracting at times especially when there is something specific I want to get across. I am interested in what happens or is revealed when we focus in on the “minor details” and what might seem insignificant or can be overlooked. I’m never satisfied when my work is too open ended, so by focusing on segmented parts of a figure or object, I am able to create perimeters that the viewer can work within.
4. “Double" is another striking feature in your works. It not only points to the number of objects (eyes, feet), but more interestingly, it reflects the dual state represented by the things you draw, such as the upside-down man. The Work corresponds to stability and instability, and the eye gazing reflects some harmony and conflict. Of course, the dual state also implies the contradiction between inner spirit and action, such as the feet of the chicken that wants to fly but cannot. Could you talk more specifically about this feature?
My interest in themes of mimicry, doubling, or mirroring, both conceptually and aesthetically, could be related to my identity as a queer South Asian person who is also part of a marginalized caste. But it also speaks to a broader split or rupture that all individuals face, a doubling that we all need to contend with at some point. Growing up queer, you need to know when to reveal and conceal certain aspects of yourself, to split off your inner desire from the outside of your body. You are always confronted with the desire to be something else which is usually at odds with another, inaccessible desire. When you aesthetically play with doubling, your mind begins to dissect the image to find the difference between two things that are seemingly the same. I am interested in the uncanny – the thing and its inverse, something that is strangely familiar, so close that it could be the same but still somehow different, which is unsettling.
5. You are also very concerned about violence. Why do you choose this concept as the core of your creations?
I believe that when you are confronted with violence or the violent realities of our everyday lives, you are simultaneously confronted with God or The Spirit. Going back to the previous question about my focus on local parts of a figure or object in my work, another reason I do this is because there is an inherent violence when you sever something from the whole, or amputate a limb from the body. I think this is also felt when you attempt to repair the amputated thing incorrectly or in a way that feels claustrophobic, artificial, and tense. I like to apply methods like stitch or exposed nails and staples to amplify that feeling and make it manifest somehow. I also find violence can be reflected in color; sickly pinks and browns or pungent yellows paired with fiery vermillion shades. They are sort of an assault on the eyes yet they keep you from looking away, I think this is why I also love horror films from the 70s and 80s.
6. The theme of this exhibition is "TWIN". What aspect of your creation does it show?
We are all split subjects, we have an inner and outer dimension to our selves. I a sense we all are already twins, or have a twin – usually one that is estranged from us. For me this is one of the points of departure for the show, this idea of the inner and outer. A twin exists in a realm outside of your own, but is still so deeply connected to and close to you. It is both inside and outside. It is at once the same as you and also inaccessible to you. Twins are two things that appear alike on the surface but are different within, which connects to my other interests related to mimicry and the desire to appear as something you are not.
7. Why do you choose to use painting to carry your expression?
I’ve never been good at verbalizing my ideas and also there are things you just cannot say with words. I have always been drawn to form and colour and texture, so I think painting sort of came naturally to me as a way of expressing how I feel, or more importantly how I see. I have recently been working with found objects as well; manipulating them in subtle ways to create sort of bastardized sculptures which I quite enjoy.
8. This is your first exhibition in China. How do you define the significance of This exhibition personally?
Much of my visual language is derived from the Indian subcontinent. But India and China have much in common, both historically and today. For example, Buddhism, which is an important theme and reference point in my work, began in India but is far more important today in China and other parts of Asia. Both India and China have undergone major political, social, cultural transformations over the last century and offer ways of approaching modernity and globalization that are not western or European. I would ask Chinese visitors to try to look for themselves in the works and to think about their own relationship with their “twin”.