Nyrmla’s Wedding II 1995/6 by Amrit K.D.Kaur Singh

© The SinghTwins

www.artisancam.org.uk/flashapps/singhtwins

At first sight, this seems a traditional Indian Miniature painting.

·  One of the Singh Twins is painting ‘Mendhi’ (Henna decorations) on her sister Nyrmla’s hands. Nyrmla is dressed in red, the traditional colour for the Indian bridal sari.

·  At the top left of the picture is a scene in a Gurdwara (Sikh Temple) a Granthi (Priest) is waving a sacred whisk (Chauri Sahib) over the Sikh Scriptures (Sri Guru Granth Sahib). (Video link www.cleo.net.uk/resource/sukhaasan and

www.cleo.net.uk/resource/powsikhism .)

·  The wallpaper and carpet are traditional Indian patterns.

·  The perspective uses a traditional technique of Indian/Persian painting: the room is ‘opened out’ so the floor is at a wider angle to the viewer revealing more detail than natural perspective would show.

·  Throughout, there is the meticulous attention to detail of the traditional Indian miniature.

But as the viewer plays the game of finding and clicking on the outline shapes, more modern western elements are discovered.

·  The children’s toys and the cameras are at least superficially benign, though the doll is dressed in a costume that reflects a Disney version of exotic eastern dress that contrasts strongly with Nyrmla’s modest, beautiful Sari.

·  The Cameras (note the huge size of the mid-1990’s video camera) record the scene in an instant way that contrasts with the hours spent in creating the image we are viewing.

·  The most shocking element in the picture is at the top right corner. The manic grin of the McDonald clown is climbing out of a landscape of industrial despoliation.

This is a great work that in terms of content and execution provides an important record of what being British Asian means to the artist.

Other work by the twins can be viewed in the gallery section of their website www.singhtwins.co.uk/htm_page.htm .

An particularly interesting piece to study is ‘From Zero to Hero’ a 2002 portrait of the Beckhams. by Rabindra K.D. Kaur Singh. The Beckhams are depicted in a way that has strong echoes of Indian Bazaar Art posters of Siva, Parvarti and Ganesh (see http://www.indiaoz.com.au/hinduism/pictures/shiva/shiva_parvati_ganesh.jpg ). Like Lord Siva David holds an attribute to show his power – football instead of trident – and Posh holds a microphone rather than Parvati’s lotus, symbolizing her prodigious talent. The singh Twins’ defence of a charge of disrespect made by Hindus is well worth reading.

google image search for ‘siva parvati ganesh’

Siva holds ‘attributes’ signifying his powers – trident, drum (the damaru - )conch (purity), drum