Bleeding Lines
(soft pastel, pen and sandstone)
From my palms they seamlessly flow
Lines I cut sharp into stone
Too soon I come to rest
As dust on the sandstones
Will you sing my song As you look up and walk
On stones that I cut cut cut.
BleedingLines
This work is a statement about the labourers who chisel lines individually into sandstones every day for most of their lives. They inherit the work from their fathers and are lucky to survive beyond their 40s. It seemed poetically ironic that as they carve the lines, the lines and ridges from their own palms diminish, literally as well as metaphorically. Though the site was the majestic historic Mehrangarh Fort, it was the labourer’s quiet sense of pride in their small contribution/sacrifice to the heritage of the Fort that was evocative and humbling.