Indigo Collection, Red Reincarnation, The Peacock At The Met Museum

A collection of garments as costume for artist at the MET Museum, Nikhil Chopra, live performance 12- 20 September 2019, Photo credit, Shivani Gupta.

For the live art performance at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA, 

• Indigo Collection were garment pieces that reinstated old costume pieces by dyeing them in natural indigo. The pieces incorporated notions of reuse, within the recurring persona of the artist as the traveller.

• Red ReIncarnation was a creative action towards notions of tribalism. Costuming as covering of the body becomes secondary, if done repetitively. The costume in itself was a fetish towards costuming. I cared more about the energy I put into it rather than the physicality of the body embodying the costume. Red ReIncarnation was created through gestural paint spatter, undoing and redoing zips, with tear alterations and tassel additions. 

• The Peacock At The Met Museum; The costumes works are created within the conviction of having collaborated for many projects in the past and derives from transforming the artist’s identity. As part of our discussions for the costume, the artist wanted a piece for him that would make him a peacock. To an otherness of being ‘peacock’ and open to my interpretation. I use the costume to be worn by the body as a site of inquiry to explore the relationship it has to identity and how to transpose a costume to form a persona. Costume as my medium I use formal qualities of materials to argue ostentatiousness as a peacock. The face-masking element uses hand embroidery of glass beads and crystal stone work to adorn and hide the face. The mirror works applied onto iridescent textile as reflections a token towards speculation of the interplay of the peacock as exhibitionist and the audience as voyeur.