A STITCH IN TIME

Contact details: +91 9892213907 / info@baromarket.in 

Artist : WOLF

Medium : Mix Media

Dimensions : 18" x 11" 

Year : 2021

ARTISTS' NOTE

The Blue Varahi head, surrounded by a ruff, probably the item of clothing most associated with Elizabethan England.

How did this Era get named after a woman, during an absolute patriarchal time? Was it only because she came to rule? Named after a woman nonetheless…!

Her reign was a time of the flowering of arts, music and literature, of peace and prosperity. Her long reign created stability. “The general opinion at the time was that governing was an art accessible only to men; a female head of state was an offense against nature” (Kirkland and Papp). Queen Elizabeth was entirely against this mindset and because she didn’t want to be under a man’s authority, she instead ruled for 45 years unmarried and independently.

The ‘cloth’ used for the ruff is woven metal. It speaks of the hardships endured to put forth ‘her’ ideas.

16th-century sumptuary laws (sumptuous and consumption sum up the intent - to regulate expenditure and personal behaviour) dictated the clothes, colors, materials associated with each societal rank - and often prohibited “unnecessary” foreign goods 

Blue ruffs were banned by the Queen because blue was the colour of Scotland’s flag and she saw Mary Stuart, Queen of Scotland as a threat to her. Here, we are drifting towards the blues to stand up and break the rules which pit woman against woman.

Buttons to symbolise the connectedness of all things and her necklace of cogs from watches, an analogy for her ‘golden period’.

MATERIALITY: 

A found wooden table top 

An antique Varahi head (acquired as a Varaha mask used in performances of Varaha mythology)

Fine metal mesh scrap

Embroidery using glass beads

Buttons from the Kabaadi market

Cogs from discarded wall clocks

Motorcycle chains