hand of suttee
Varanasi, India
640 x 510

painting, collage, gilding
burning, wrapping

canvas board, wooden frame, bindis,
henna template, key, gold thread,
gauze bandages, gold leaf, nails,
dhoti fragment, acrylic paints

On the funeral ghats beside the Ganges in Varanasi one sees hand prints left by the women who, while very much alive, joined their deceased spouse on the funeral pyre.

I’m told that this practice – suttee – is outlawed in India.

But that it still happens.