Chandigarh-based artist Gurjeet Singh’s first show at an American institution offers a moving consideration of the emotional impact of words. Teary Eyes is a soft sculpture stitched together from pieces of dress fabric. Despite a playful, colorful surface, the work conveys a deep vulnerability; this feeling grows deeper as we witness a violent exchange of words in the painting Prickly Words. Portraits of Singh with the figure further personalize the exhibition.
“These works explore what it means to be seen, to express yourself, and the power of language to build us up and tear us down,” says exhibition curator Padma Dorje Maitland, Malavalli Family Foundation Associate Curator of the Art of the Indian Subcontinent. “Even if we accept ourselves and feel confident, the wrong word at the wrong time can deeply impact us. Whether Sikh, South Asian, Queer, soft, or hard, Singh’s work addresses the complex challenges of fashioning how we appear in the world.”
Gurjeet Singh (b. 1994) works across mediums including sculpture, painting, drawing, sound, and performance. His first creative inspiration came from family — watching his mother and helping his elder sisters stitching, embroidering, and sewing at home, and assisting his father with scooter repairs. Singh reuses discarded fabrics, scrap, beads, buttons, and embroidery in his process, giving them new lives by shaping them into witty, otherworldly, and sometimes melancholic soft sculpture creatures. Recurring themes in his work include identity, equity, and equality, and how these are shaped by losses and love, with a particular focus on LGBTQ+ stories and sustainability.
