The new exhibition at the Saskia Fernando gallery, Tilda Swims the Channel, is a layered reflection on the search for safety and sustenance. Through sculpture, painting, and performance, Chudamani Clowes bears witness to the ever-evolving global structures that shape migration today.
Clowes works with layered translucent materials to capture the sea's duality; a beautiful vessel of hope and a site of hostility. The motifs of rice and coral anchor this exploration rice as staple of survival in the Global South and coral as a living witness to global climate crisis. Tilda rice packets are an essential material in this body of work, this ubiquitous commodity becomes a metaphor for the tangled course of trade and migration exposing how legacies of empire still persist in the modern flows of goods and people. Across painting, collage, printmaking and sculpture that echo the resilience of migratory life. Her mixed media compositions are textured and layered like the topographies of the ocean at times shimmering like the surface of the ocean while titles inspired from Japanese haikus add to the poetic sensibilities of Clowes's artwork.
The public programme for the exhibition included a performance titled Tilda Journeys to the Port
by the artist. Amidst the flow of commuter traffic, Clowes walked from Galle Road to the entrance of the Colombo Port. Adorning a painted structure with references to migration, food security and ecological precarity, the performance embodied the promise of refuge that remains just out of reach.
Based in London, Clowes is an alumna of the Royal College of Art, London and the Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design, London. Her work is part of the Victoria and Albert Museum Collection, London and the Royal College of Art Collection, London.
Closes answered questions from Groundviews on rice as a metaphor, challenging the legacies of empire and ecological decline.
What does the title Tilda Swims the Channel represent?
The title represents metaphorically someone trying to swim to safety and comfort. Someone who is overcoming obstacles and barriers to find shelter and home. Tilda is a Germanic word for resilience and fortitude. It's also a name of a brand of rice I eat. It was a company set up by Indian immigrants in the 1970s. I am using a whimsical term but it's in response to the negative responses from inflatable boat crossings by migrants in France. I wanted to use rice as a metaphor for nourishment and economic safety. Also, there are rice corals that migrate the world on ships.
How do Tilda rice packets challenge legacies of empire and trade?
Tilda rice packets challenge legacies of empire and trade by having been set up by immigrants. It is vital primary source of South Asians. Rice packets symbolise nourishment and wellbeing. In the past the British have caused famine in South Asia. Asia supplies Europe with rice so they are vital to trade as an export crop. It shows the company that immigrants can be successful in business and contribute to the host country. The packaging is hypnotic with loving hands and hearts almost showing how vital a food source it is to South Asians.
How do coral and rice connect ecological decline with migration movements?
There are strong causal links with coral and rice connecting ecological decline and migration movements. The coral act as a litmus test tells us the sea is far too hot. The sea is acidic and polluted. They glow warning signs and bleach white. This environmental change will affect rice crops that need water and drought conditions mean people will start moving to more suitable fertile areas of the world. The rice coral will respond. Humans will also leave to better pastures.
Why did you choose to use titles from Japanese haikus?
I love exciting titles to paintings. When I enter my studio, I generally read a few Japanese haikus to liberate my mind. To start the creative process. I love the use of syllables of 5,7,5 structure. I wrote all the poems as my titles as I was grappling with certain themes and issues confronting us all today. No matter where you are, we are facing a lot of harmful problems. Some of the poems do not stick to the haiku structure rigidly but I was drawing attention to the pollution ocean warfare, underwater sea drones, data digital information pipes and plastics clogging our seas. Haikus are poetic ways in small chunks to discuss important gigantic problems.
How do your sculptures confront existing colonial and global structures?
The series of sculptures called Winston You Coral man confronts the ambiguous nature of colonial war heroes. I was drawn to this story because President Barack Obama removed the bust of Winston Churchill from the Oval Office. This was largely due to Winston Churchill killing 150 Mau Mau freedom fighters. When President Trump came in, he reinstated the bust. I was intrigued by this process of a bust being moved in and out of a political space. So I did research into Winston Churchill and I used serrated biscuit cutters because of the reference to sugar empire and slavery and the structure of coral. It is very topical to try and remove sculptures of figures not politically correct at the moment as there is a back lash against historical figures. Jacob Epstein made 36 sculptures of Winston Churchill. My heads are nothing like his ones. Mine are quite whimsical and colourful with an underlying layer of empire.
What was the response to your performance piece walking from Galle Road to the entrance of the Colombo Port?
The response to my performance, Tilda journeys to the port, was amazing. It was positively received because migration is such an important subject at the moment. People realise the dangerous predicament faced by ordinary people for subsistence. I saw during the economic upheaval hundreds of people lining up along the American Embassy. It was disturbing and eye opening. I wanted to link art which can provide emotional and intellectual subsistence with the Colombo port that is so important to our trade and food supply. The link between the art world and trade and commerce is important to our economy. The costume and the painting I wore created a spectacle. The police joined into help guide onlookers at rush hour. The drummers were barefoot out of respect for the drums. They nearly spooked a mounted horse with the loud sound. It was definitely an expression and a thought provoking performance. The port is our life blood an artery that is vital linking global trade with the art world.
How do you hope Sri Lankan audiences interpret narratives around global migration?
I think that narratives around migration are very welcome not only as many families are having to travel, migrate but also they are warned of dangers and vulnerability of migration. Exploitation and necessities make urgency of migration vital. The audience realise the fragility of the economic climate and the shifting global demands in work forces. They know Sri Lankan medically qualified to health services around the globe. There is demand for young well qualified people from carers to nurses. Many have first-hand experience and know of perils of migration.
What responsibility does the contemporary artist have concerning global crises and change?
Every artist is driven by different array of themes that interject, preoccupy, cause concerns to their practice. As an artist you may navigate the world in an interesting way. It may be to show a glimpse of an alternative reality to wonder at what maybe every day occurrences. It's important to show our vulnerability and highlight dangers prevalent to us all. Not to take situations for granted but to create positive sustainability to change. To increase awareness to global issues. We may be an island but everything has a ripple effect. I think contemporary art gives one a voice and a platform and it's important to voice concerns and subjects you may feel very strongly about. An artist has to be very responsible and be aware of global crises.