All The Light We Cannot See
2012-2017
12:56 min
“We are all our own universe of secrets, and vulnerable,” wrote art critic Michael Kimmelman. But what does it delve into this fiercely guarded the world and have its gatekeeper unlock what they have obscured from public knowledge, or even themselves?
And ongoing project since 2012, “All the light we cannot see” reads as an anthology of secrets buried deep in the hearts of acquaintances that the artist has painstakingly extricated over long hours of deep conversations and interactions. Driven by a curiosity towards the multi-faceted natural of the human condition, she picks out characters in her social circle with possible stories to share, spends time connecting with them and peeling down layers of defense mechanisms before presenting the utmost difficult question “ can you tell me your secret?” The sessions often ended up intense and emotional as seams of guardedness undo to expose what is often still saw, tender and painful.
Visual records of these intimate exchanges materialize in the form of a letter of secrets that the artist gets her subjects to pen for her. Putting words on paper posed an even greater challenge than articulating them verbally. Some letters never came, others took a long time. Those precious few received were then photographed using in the very light that illuminates the spaces their authors live and breathe in, with a longer duration of time than normally required. This overexposure, both figurative and metaphorical, is an emotive attempt at absorbing the essence of the prose that was once immersed in the space and presence of their authors, similar to dusting a faint fingerprint.
The results are heartbreaking visual portraitures of the deepest hopes, fears, guilt or shame that saddle one’s journey in life, enigmatically fading away like the fragile and precarious nature of untold stories.
Confessional letters are procured again from the same subjects after a gap of one to two years, sometimes with changes in content hinting towards the slipperiness of memory, recollection, and truth. Yet it is not absolute accuracy that the artist yearns, but the personal connection between two people who bared their souls to each other.
Hence, this series is an invitation to read not just between, but beyond the lines into the complexities and ambiguities of human thought and desire.
