This photobook explores the role of matrilineal bonds in shaping female identity

I wanted the viewer to make this book their own I was hoping it would evoke emotions their own emotions so that it would mean something more than just someone elsersquos storyrdquo photographermodel Sheetal Mallar tells us about her photo book a repository of memories of her grandmother who passed away in 2019 Photographs from this selfpublished book were exhibited at the India Art Fair this February and will now be shown in an exhibition titled Braided opening at Art Musings on April 11Sheetal Mallarrsquos book has a tactility rendered by features such as pasted fabric swatches and folds or ldquowindows in the bookrdquo ldquoI felt that these elements made you engage with the book at a slower pace because you have to pause and open and close the folds They may lead to emotions that words pictures or even drawings often canrsquot evoke and at the same time set the pace of the work which is quiet still and introspective in naturerdquo she says PicsKirti Surve ParadeThe occasion will also see the release of the book which Mallar tells us has been 12 years in the making ldquoInitially it was a playful way of spending time together as a family dressing up and taking pictures It was more like a family album I wanted to put things together because of the transient nature of all the people you love who wonrsquot be aroundrdquo says the artiste who took on the mantle of family photographer early on lsquoAmmarsquo Mallarrsquos maternal grandmother was the only one she says who came from their ancestral village in Karnataka to stay with the family in Mumbai the closeness forging a deep and nurturing bond between the artiste her mother and her grandmother ldquoI wanted to look at the bonds we share with our maternal lineage I believe it is a circle that is just as vulnerable as it is strong Itrsquos been cathartic for me looking at relationships that have been at my corerdquoIt was only after her grandmother passed away that she started compiling the pictures combining them with drawings made over the years as the book slowly transitioned from an album to her first book ldquoI felt that one chapter was over You never really get closure but it became a way to hold on to all the happy things that you loved about each other and all that you now missrdquoA photograph from a dressup ritual ldquoWe pretended to go to an imaginary weddingrdquo Mallar tells usBraided as its title suggests is a layered work bringing together different creative elementsmdashtext photographs with outlines of figures cut out to denote emptiness and loss and drawings Photos of objects evoking Mallarrsquos grandmotherrsquos physical presencemdasha comb a television remote silk sarees banglesmdashare peppered through the book There are pages with floral printed fabric reminiscent of her lsquonightiesrsquo pasted on them ldquoThe nightie especially here in India is so readily associated with grannies So I cut out that fabric in the shape of a nightie and drew around it on the page It felt like it started living within the world of that story You canrsquot explain these things itrsquos nicer that the tactile element brings about that emotion without you saying anything about itrdquoHair becomes another central idea in the book as photographs of hair of different colours and textures hair that is tied or allowed to fall freely and even a text snippet about cutting her hair while she lay asleep feature throughout ldquoI wanted to use it metaphorically in the work because I felt that the braiding rituals that we have with our moms create a real bond because of how long it takes the physical closeness of the act and the conversations that take place during the process As a child I used to be completely fascinated and watch my mother and grandmother when they did their hair For me it would mean so many thingsmdashit would mean they were in a happy place that they were looking after themselves When my grandmother stopped being able to do her hair I correlated it to everything that she must be feelingmdashthat shersquos not in her body anymore that shersquos getting older and things are changingrdquoA photograph Mallar associates with rituals around hair and the memories connected with them that we carry with usMallar also shot on expired film to evoke the idea of fading memories the result she says of playing with the medium ldquoItrsquos a personal project and I didnrsquot have any time constraints Using It gave it this dreamlike quality I thought even if it looks wrong itrsquoll look wrong beautifully Everything was a surprise in a sense but I could afford that with this workrdquo