Suren Kimidi is an independent lens-based artist from India working on narratives that explore and interrogate inexorable historical narratives and the influences they have on the world as we live through it now. Be it something as personal as the effect of the death of his loved ones or something at a macro level like a prevalent epidemiological crisis that has been afflicting a large population, his practice aims to look at his subjects—living or non-living—in the most humane way possible, arising mainly from introspection and empathy which never let him separate self from surroundings. If nothing else, his work approaches the world around him with a sense of curiosity, first teaching him a thing or two about it before digging deeper concepts.
Working with photography, text, archival material, and found objects, Suren’s works are built on long-term research and surveys rooted in India. His work is born out of unresolved complexities that affect his subjects, especially when there is no accountability toward them. His image-making does not aim to freeze fleeting moments in time but to be part of them and accept them for their ephemerality; does not capture his subjects but gives them a way to represent themselves as they would want; does not just document events but rather strives to identify their place in history and in the livelihood of the people around.
