Recent Acquisitions

Rohini Devasher

In the scientific realm, as the rate of genetic modification accelerates, the boundary of form and function blurs and these chimera become more of a possibility of what could be —Rohini Devasher

Bloodlines by Delhi-based artists Rohini Devasher exists at the boundary between science and art, pulsating with “primordial life, while simultaneously being precursors to a futuristic space.” Using mirrors and video feedback, Devasher created seven “mother” creatures pictured in the center that were in turn used to spawn the related families of biomorphic creatures. This large digital print charts these relationships. In the accompanying video each creature is projected with a radioactive glow on a black frame. Trained in printmaking at Winchester School of Art, Devasher has been consumed with fashioning a universe of biomorphic entities in her prints and large-scale drawings. She calls the work “a warehouse full of impossible monsters” an idea derived from evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins (The Blind Watchmaker) In this work, Devasher dares to imagine a world of possibilities that may or may not exist, providing a genetic sequence through her artistic practice. She explains the process:

We begin with seven forms; parents let us say. Each “parent” form is the result of a gradual construction of an intricate skeletal structure made of individual, manually placed layers of video. The original footage consists of video feedback which occurs when a loop is created between a video camera and a television screen or monitor. The result is an astonishing array of spatio-temporal patterns that emerge spontaneously from the feedback system.

As she observes, the chaos of video feedback is a generative force, capable of producing life within her fictitious video realm. As she moves out from the parent entities, Devasher's work further resonates with broader evolutionary patterns, spawning a never ending pattern of increasingly complex biological structures.