With this project. I continue my exploration of the body. I expand upon ways of documenting my body, using 120 lbs. of clay (my weight in clay) to create a series of chai cups.
Much heavier than any of the powders I have used, clay has a less ephemeral and much heavier, more human physicality. This is interesting because clay is used to make chai cups, one of the most ephemeral tools in India – we return each cup to the earth after a single use. Comparing human life to chai cups, I hope to meditate on the parallels between the lifespan of the female body and that of the chai cup. Clay is also exciting because it is a living object. Its life is documented on its surface. Exposure to air shows in cracks; pressure changes its form; fingerprints can be fossilized in its malleable surface. With this project, I examine the tension between solid, living clay, and brittle, ephemeral chai cups. Like female bodies, these cups exist briefly and are treated as disposable, yet they play an essential role in quotidian Indian culture.
