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<![CDATA[Artist’s Statement : Digital Karma – Artists Statement
Anil CS Rao
Pleasure, sexual or otherwise in Indian thought is referred to by the Sanskrit term “kama”. A Hedonist is a term used to describe a person infatuated with sensual pleasures and lives his life in pursuit of them. This exhibit is a synthesis of a hypothetical realm of an Indian (American) Hedonist with clues towards a “higher” interpretation of the pursuit of sexual and sensual pleasure: “If it feels God, then do it”. One of the many inspirations for this exhibit comes from the work of Indian Sufi poet-composer Mirza Ghalib. Another source of motifs was the Rubayat of Omar Khayam which hints at the pleasures available in heaven (guilt and consequence free) for good souls here on earth. When “good” is introduced, so is the arena of morals and dogma associated with various belief systems and religions. One particular anomaly who comes to mind is Bhagwan Rajneesh, the charismatic guru who died in the 1990s from AIDS: one of the earthly fates of overindulgent pleasure seekers here on Earth.
My intent is to saturate your sense with the images of females in dance poses and lying about in Geni outfits to the point you say “very pretty girls, so what?”. If you look at the images, I only hint that pleasure is but a reflection of a State of Bliss that comes with experiencing the higher realm of your respective belief system: “moksha” for the Buddhist or Hindu, Heaven for the Judaea-Christian or Muslim, union with the reality of existence for the Atheist., etc by the use of religious motif and traditional Indian wardrobe. The choice of Indian traditional wardrobe was not whim, but to provoke you to rethink the work in terms of a Christian or Atheist, etc perspective i.e. a cross cultural one.
Well, I hope you enjoy this exhibit – I can be reached at asc.anil@gmail.com and welcome and and all comments or feedback on this show.
DIGITAL KARMA: A Photoshop Exhibit
January 9th to Jan 28th 2008
Capitol Arts Network Gallery
Washington School of Photography
Bethesda, Maryland
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