Elemental Whispers is a growing body of work with multiple series of ephemeral anthotype prints as signatures of the rhythms of nature.
Light-sensitive emulsions are made from berries, flowers and plants found at high-altitude stony slopes and river belts. This comes after an elaborate process of timely finding natural materials that are wasted/fallen/cultivated in their natural habitat. These are then pounded under a pestle, and strained through a muslin cloth to extract a fine liquid. This is coated on watercolour sheets, and exposed on various banks of the Indus River. Sunlight, river drift, and sittings by birds, cattle and bugs, make the final prints.
The meticulousness in identifying and sourcing natural elements is coupled with an intimate process of tending to them while making the emulsion, and sharing it with the flora and fauna around the river. The resultant prints thus endeavour to be meditative pulls towards the silent rhythms of natural forces that create, care for, and cast existence on earth. This process is also an attempt to reimagine botanical imagery, along with building an inventory of all-natural light-sensitive emulsions of the high Himalayas, some of which might go out of existence in the time to come.
This project is supported by the Prince Claus Fund and TOTO Funds the Arts.
