Movement, 1993 (detail)
Charcoal and earth pigment on paper
Rummana’s earliest departures from the figural painting were experiments in abstraction that remained on paper. She employed xerox, watercolor, indigo, earth pigment, charcoal, terracotta on paper. But perhaps more significantly they were applied not just by brush, but rubbed in, imprinted on crumpled, torn or creased paper. Titles such as Movement, Fluid that were part of Bodyscapes series signaled for her a newfound awareness of the body not just as an instrument, but the site itself for art-making. These works which focus on the female body, the site of simultaneous violence and fecundity, would continue to remain important throughout her oeuvre; leading not only to the subsequent Tunnel Echoes works, but to the images of feminine fertility—the halved papayas, the open mouths and domes—that continue to reappear in her later works.
Crushed blue piece, 1992
Indigo and earth pigment, charcoal on crushed paper 19” x 29 3/4”
Rummana Hussain’s oeuvre exists in two parts—one, her early figural works on canvas and paper from the 1980s, and the other her sculptures, installations, and performance works that were among the first to appear in India in the 1990s. These two very seemingly dichotomous bodies of work suggest a disjuncture rather than a gradual progression in her practice.
In Breaking Skin, we present a body of work from the early 1990s that reveals a process of transition from the figurative to the abstract, from allegorical to a direct and bold confrontation, from flat painted two dimensional planes to textured and ravaged surfaces in diverse media, from a veiled exploration of self to a public, vulnerable personal awakening.
Love over reason, 1993
Love over reason, 1993
Charcoal and earth pigment on folded paper
16 1/4" x 23 1/4"
Love over reason, 1993
Indigo and earth pigment, charcoal on folded paper
19 1/2" x 24 3/4"
Love over reason, 1993
Indigo pigment and charcoal on folded paper
16 1/4” x 23 1/4”
Fluid, 1993
Indigo and earth pigment, charcoal on crushed paper
14" x 18
Bodyscape, 1993
Earth pigment and charcoal on crushed paper
23 1/4" x 31 1/4”
Strung, 1993
Earth pigment and charcoal on crushed paper
23 1/2” x 28”
Yoni, 1993
Earth pigment, charcoal and graphite on paper
32 3/4" x 25”
Movement, 1993
Charcoal and earth pigment on paper
15” x 16.5", 14” x 18”, 18" x 14”/ In 3 parts
Movement, 1993 (detail)
Movement, 1993 (detail)
Movement, 1993 (detail)
Tower of Babel, 1993
Terracotta and print on plexi, acrylic, indigo, earth pigment, pastel , and print on plastic pasted on board
27 3/4" x 22 1/2”
Tower of Babel, 1993 (detail)
Crushed blue piece, 1992
Indigo and earth pigment, charcoal on crushed paper
19” x 29 3/4”
One into three, 1993
(In 2 parts)
One into three, 1993
Watercolor, pastels and print on paper
24 1/2" x 30 3/4”
One into three, 1993
Charcoal and ink, graphite on print, on paper
22 3/4”x 31 3/4"
Dissemination, 1993
Indigo and earth pigment, ink, charcoal and print on paper
26 3/4" x 31 1/2”
Dissemination, 1993 (detail)
Dissemination, 1993 (detail)
Tunnel Echoes, 1994
Indigo pigment and ink on etching on crushed paper
29 4/5" x 22 1/2"
Behind a thin film, 1993
(In 2 parts)
Behind a thin film, 1993
Acrylic on print collage, ink on plastic sheet, charcoal and Xerox on paper
24" x 18 1/4”
Behind a thin film, 1993
Indigo and earth pigment, acrylic on printed paper, collage and tracing paper pasted on paper
24" x 17 1/2"
