This work by Suchitra Mattai mobilizes a vintage advertisement from India as a support for the composition. The shadow is key for Mattai—a metaphor for all that is concealed: history, context, illness, etc. The painted pattern is based on elements within various Indian textiles, and on patterns Mattai found in The Grammar of Ornament, a colonial era design book that liberally takes credit for visual languages invented by colonized cultures. In the past, Mattai has used embroidery floss as a means for suggesting a gate, or a prison. “In this image I wanted those bars to be open and for the heroine to see an escape route out,” says Mattai. This piece belongs to a series Mattai debuted in 2023, memorializing super heroines as embodiments of feminine empowerment. A lot of these works celebrate the power of women, while simultaneously reimagining colonial narratives. “These elements are tied together, so I find it hard to extricate them,” says Mattai. “The wonder of art is that it doesn’t have to be one element. Stories are complex. I want to portray that in the works.”