hand of suttee

Varanasi, India
640 x 510

Painting, collage, gilding, burning, wrapping
Objets trouvés: wooden frame, bindis, henna template, key
Canvasboard, gold thread, gauze bandages, gold leaf, nails, dhoti fragment, acrylic paints

 

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On the funeral ghats beside the Ganges in Varanasi one sees handprints left by the women who, while very much alive, went with their deceased spouse onto the funeral pyre.  I’m told that this practice – suttee – is outlawed in India.  But that it still happens.

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