Bodies of Practice - One to One Performance

Catharsis explores the metamorphosis the Sikh artist experiences when cutting her hair. The work explores themes of religion, diaspora and familial confrontation. The artist felt that her uncut hair held the a weight of religion and restricted her identity as an atheist. A one to one performance allowed the artist to gain a sense of understanding that the cutting of her hair was not about disrespecting and rebelling her religion but about being true to herself and having self respect above other people's judgements.

"There was a point where I thought about handing the participant a lock of my hair but then I felt an overwhelming sense of protection and defensiveness about it being my hair"

 -Priya Rupra