A Thousand Cuts

“A Thousand Cuts” by Sujata Setia in collaboration with Shewise UK Derived from the ancient Asian form of torture - “Lingchi”, “A thousand Cuts” is a photographic study of patterns of domestic abuse in the South Asian community. I have borrowed the metaphorical meaning of Lingchi to showcase the cyclical nature of domestic abuse. The continuous act of chipping at the soul of the abused, is expressed by making cuts on the portrait of the participant. The paper used to print the portrait is a thin A4 sheet, depicting the fragility of her existence.The red colour underneath the portraits signifies not just martyrdom and strength but also the onset of a new beginning. I have kept the project at a domestic scale, using resources, I had available within the home as a metaphorical reflection of violence occurring within the human space. The final artwork is photographed in a very closed, tight crop so as to express a sense of suffocation and absence of room for movement. The patterns that emerge on the portrait are a reflection of past and present. Of submission and of regaining her own power. These patters are as much an internal dialogue of the survivor with herself as they are her conversation with the viewer, who stands outside of that frame. A bird in an open cage is waiting in one of the portraits for the viewer to choose, whether she would take that flight or would she prefer staying within the cage because it is what is known to her. In that sense, “A thousand Cuts” is an invitation for an open yet intimate conversation between she, who is confined within the frame of her own reality and the other, who sits outside of that frame. What the final truth becomes, is what the outcome of that dialogue will decide. In this series, I have moved outwards from my social context to investigate the politics of abuse and coercive control. By making physical cuts on the survivor's portrait, I have tried to showcase the juxtaposition of many energies and realms of individual and systemic consciousnesses, in the act of normalising abuse. The focus is on narratives of the South Asian subject. One finds in there, a certain similitude of hegemonic masculinity and a history of colonisation that then helps us sketch out broad patterns that might provide useful lines of inquiry. This series also studies the journey of abuse from the private, intimate space where violence occurs; to its place in the public domain, whether it be in terms of how the private reality is subverted; decorated in public or that initial disclosure process when the survivor breaks their silence and speaks out to family, friends, neighbours, colleagues or even absolute strangers. This photographic study draws on interviews with 21 South Asian women (it is an ongoing project) and analyses the interactional and emotional processes of the first public disclosure of their private reality.