EYES WITHOUT FACE: Amrita Dhillon
Past Shows exhibition
Overview
EYES WITHOUT FACE invites viewers into a complex exploration of identity, memory, and beauty, set against the backdrop of both personal and cultural history. The exhibition draws its title from Georges Franju’s 1960 film “Les Yeux sans Visage”, where a disfigured woman, trapped behind a mask, navigates themes of loss, beauty, isolation, and obsession. Like the film, Dhillon’s work explores the tension between appearance and reality, revealing the vulnerability and disconnection often hidden beneath the surface. In the eponymous 1983 song by Billy Idol "Eyes Without a Face," facelessness represents emotional numbness or the inability to connect on a deeper level. Having eyes, the window to the soul, but lacking a face to express personality or emotion.
Dhillon's large-scale paintings on velvet and canvas begin with cinematic stills from Indian films of the 1960s - 1980s, stripping these images of their original contexts to expose the patriarchal narratives and caste system that underpinned Bollywood’s glossy melodramas. Through distortion, her works detach these moments from their historical burden, allowing new interpretations to emerge. The figures, often depicted in a state of flux, their identities obscured or partially erased, hover in a state of ambiguity, reflecting the fragility of identity and the fleeting nature of beauty.
The use of velvet as a medium adds a tactile layer to the paintings. Enhancing the audience's engagement on a more sensory level. The fabric’s opulent texture evokes both warmth and darkness, absorbing light and pulling viewers into the psychological depths of the work. Velvet also possesses a unique quality where its appearance shifts with changing light, creating a sense of movement and dynamism. Historically used in garments and masks, and often associated with mystery, concealment, and status, velvet holds rich cultural significance across the world. Its inclusion reflects how materials themselves convey meanings and histories.
In Indian culture, the veil can have multiple meanings, from modesty, privacy or status. In the context of the exhibition, the painting, “Consort, Concubine, Companion”, explores the idea of the mask or veil as a symbol of concealment or enforced identity. Highlighting how a "face", isn´t just as a physical feature but a representation of one's identity, honour, and place in society. The soft, blurred lines further evoke a sense of melancholy, disconnection, and sorrow, as her body appears to dissolve into abstraction. The progression from Consort (formal, official) to Concubine (unequal, hidden) to Companion (intimate, equal) evokes the shifting roles people may play in each other's lives, especially in the context of power. It suggests a spectrum of relationships: from those shaped by societal structures, to those driven by personal desire or advantage, to finally, a relationship based on personal choice, affection, or friendship.
Exhibited Works
Installation Views
