The morning of 14th October 2024, I opened my eyes to the African continent outside my window. I landed in Johannesburg and drove to the Cradle of Humankind—a stretch peppered with pine and jacaranda trees. Sven welcomed me to NIROX, and I met Vibha Galhotra, Indian conceptual artist, who left soon, but with the calls of the geese, ducks, bushshrikes, lions and rhinos, I never felt alone.

Fynbos in Silvermine

The next morning, I went to Farmhouse 58 to meet Paul, who walked me up the recently burnt hills to orient me to the local flora. We saw burnt monkey tails, vibrant fynbos, red poison bulbs, prickly pears, a zebra, a jackal, and then bumped into a puff adder! Shortly after, it rained with loud thunderclaps. When I met Kay Kay, he said I brought the rains—which is as kind a remark as “bringing the snow” in the Himalayas.

When I told my mother about the rains, she reminded me of the time of my birth, when it rained incessantly for days. With more rain, the charred landscape transformed rapidly. To see little shoots of green emerge from what looked like a black deathbed had a profound impact on me. I am used to seeing greens after the white of winter, but this was new.

Working at NIROX

I started studying the survival mechanisms of these plants: thin roots, underground organs, seed coats which crack after fires; but not a single photograph of these was to be found. I made a quick trip to Cape Town to see the endemic fynbos, which were wavering in vibrance amidst the strong south-easterly winds on the Table Mountain.

Soon, I started imagining plant morphologies while making photo-emulsions from the plants I foraged. The anthotypes I made looked nothing like I made before: zooming into the microscopic existence of earthbound plants zoomed out to the enormous expanse of all existence in the cosmos. Thick barks, hairy leaves, pollen clouds, serotiny and seed dispersals—survival conditions for plants—looked like nebulae, planetary atmospheres, cosmic dust, supernovae and meteor showers.

(Extra) Terrestrial Installation

I realised this speculation was a new direction in my practice. Thanks to the many conversations with Sibongakonke Mama, writer, my Joburg guide and now a good friend, I honed my concept to prepare for an exhibition titled (extra)terrestrial). It was a moving coming together of some of the people who played key roles: members from the Consulate of India in Johannesburg who made me feel looked after in South Africa, Isabel Hofmeyr whom I’d met in my initial days, the ever-inspiring Johan Thom who visited my Open Studio at the BMW Art Weekend, and in spirit, Sophia van Eyk, my co-resident for a couple of weeks and Vanessa Cowling who walked me through her sustainable photographic garden in the University of Cape Town. I wished my mother a happy birthday on the exhibition opening, the 30th of November, and thanked her for giving me her green thumb.

Exhibition opening