Suchitra Mattai Guyana, b. 1973

In this woven tapestry by Suchitra Mattai we are confronted with a breaking point; a divide; a fragmentation. Titled fever pitch, it is the final work that Mattai made in her studio in preparation for Osmosis, her first solo exhibition with Kavi Gupta. Like all of the works in the exhibition, this work mobilizes the historical and aesthetic qualities of materials and processes to suggest layers of meaning. Vintage saris are woven together with feather boas, tassels and golden cords, intermingling domestic craft techniques suggestive of Mattai’s feminine ancestral legacy with materials related to her personal contemporary tastes and fascinations. For Mattai, this work expresses the leading of her memories to the present moment. The form is evocative of a curtain closing, and a curtain opening. It is an expression of the breaking point of creativity, and also of a breakthrough. As expressed, perhaps, by the possibilities lurking beyond the gap, Mattai says, “It evokes the act of forgetting.”