Lot 73: In Transit 6

MITHU SEN (B. 1971) In Transit 6 mixed media, watercolour and collage on Japanese Kozo paper in lightbox 38 7/8 x 38 7/8 in. (98.7 x 98.7 cm.) sheet; 42 5/8 x 42 5/8 x 5¼ in. (108.3 x 108.3 x 13.3 cm.) light box Executed in 2011

98.7 x 98.7 cm.

Taipei, Espace Louis Vuitton, Mithu Sen, In Transit, 15 April - 14 August, 2011

Simultaneously provocative and attractive, Mithu Sen's works are populated by representations of body parts, animals, plants and objects that come together to form witty commentaries on gender, sexuality and contemporary life and society. In this delicate work, with its images embedded in layers of translucent paper hand made by Sen, the artist combines medium and surface to record her personal experiences of travel and displacement. Speaking about this suite of illuminated works, she explains, "As a child I travelled a lot as my father had a transferable job. We went from place to place and city to city. I never felt I wanted to leave a place behind where I was growing up. But eventually the regular migration to a new place became a part of my life and together with it the memories of the former city [...] My images of moving objects, uprooted trees and plants, suitcases and luggage are metaphors for these journeys and migrations. These works combine water colour, ink printed fabric, velvet and images of my drawings. I made the Kozo paper in Japan with some [of] my printed drawings embedded in layers of pulp. With light from behind, the paper is almost transparent, and the different images shine through." (Artist statement, Mithu Sen, In Transit, exhibition catalogue, Taipei, 2011, unpaginated) Mithu Sen was this year the subject of a site specific exhibition entitled Mithu Sen: Border Unseen. This was a comission organised by the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum at at Michigan State University and curated by Karin Zitzewitz.