Synonym-5

Working as both artist and chronicler, Reena Saini Kallats' mosaic-like compositions from the series 'Synonym' are made of rubber stamps that come together to form anonymous portraits. Almost sculptural in form, the rubber stamps bear the names of several hundred people declared missing or dead from post colonial India in the scripts of over 14 different Indian languages. Working with stamps since as early as 2003, Kallat addresses a deep sense of loss in her pieces while simultaneously questioning the government's inefficiency in ascertaining the whereabouts of those who have gone missing. "These are people who seem to have slipped out of the radar of human communication, thrown off the social safety net. The portrait of a sub-continental citizen is formed by numerous such names; the back of each portrait appearing like a sea of invisible identities, a bird's eye view of a large human congregation." (in conversation with the artist)