Mountain of Salt
Mountain of Salt (2020-21) is an expansive body of work comprised of found images, appropriated text and digital shape collages, initially conceptualised as a human response to the unfolding of covid-19. In March 2020 as the pandemic gripped the world, I like many others became acutely aware of the landscape in which we were living in, where everything felt amplified; clinging to the news for updates, statistics, and curves – in my own way analysing the myriad forms of information being shared – for me it highlighted the way words and speech have a physical presence, a bearing upon us and carry weight.
This text-based series of collages focuses on the language used over the last year and developed from the collecting of words and sentences derived from politicians, journalists and individuals all sharing their commentary, updates, or thoughts. As each wave/lockdown unfolded across the UK the evolution of works was further punctuated by many issues that are of global concern and moments that have affected us well beyond the pandemic – equality, hyper-vigilance, ‘Brexit’, pledges of reform and prolonged moments of stillness are all encompassed and bookended with some of the more light-hearted moments experienced in these times.
The distinct rhetoric of collective responsibility, togetherness and unity constantly being pushed onto us by those in positions of power is further amplified by the shapes that appear in the works and reflects a semantic response to this – they aren’t only there to direct your gaze across the image or to pause in certain spaces but contemplate the etymological meaning of what the shapes represent. Through this work I am interested in how we might unite and reflect on this time currently being experienced in our individual and collective ways, as we all live in the hope of clambering out and making it to the other side unscathed. This curious collection of phrases speaks to the dissemination of language and its effect upon us.
Bindi Vora
Bindi Vora is a British-Indian contemporary photographic artist, curator and lecturer. Her practice utilises various analogue processes, often taking inspiration from her everyday surroundings, which include her personal archive. She is interested in the way materials or ephemera can be reused or recycled to create new narratives but can be traced back to other works, almost like interconnected tissues.
Since graduating in 2013 from the University of Westminster with a BA (Hons) in Photographic Arts, her works have been exhibited in several thematic exhibitions in the United Kingdom and across the world including The Photographers’ Gallery (UK); Yinka Shonibare’s Guest Projects (UK); 180 The Strand (UK); Victoria & Albert Museum of Childhood (UK); Phoenix Gallery (UK); Cultural Centre of Belgrade (RS); Benaki Museum (GR); Art Stage, (SG); amongst others. Her works have been published in PYLOT, Capricious Magazine and Loose Associations, and has appeared on various websites including I Heart Women, Hyperallergic, A Corner With; being named as “one to watch” by The Wick Culture in 2021. In 2019, she was commissioned to a create a new work by the Hospital Rooms on behalf of the NHS Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit in Exeter.
Vora’s works have been acquired by The Women’s Art Library at Goldsmith’s University (UK), Franklin Furnace Artist Book Collection / Museum of Modern Art (US), Self-Publish Be Happy at Maison Européenne de la Photographie (FR), Imperial Health Charity (UK), The Hyman Collection (UK) Guy’s & St Thomas’ Foundation (UK) alongside a number of private collections across the world. She lives and works in London, UK.
