Walking Into the Light

So now in the third week at Godawari, it has been an interesting time, the girls have started to make sculptures that we can stick broken glass bangles on. This has involved making proper armatures, padding them with polystyrene and wrapping muslin dipped in plaster round this to make a basic structure. Monday was quite mad as I had some girls at the plaster stage and some at the armature in wire stage. The result is a solid bag of plaster and a blocked sink. Last Friday, myself and three girls, went into Patan, to Mangle Bazaar, to buy more Bangles than the old couple running the stall have ever sold before. Monday morning we smashed them all! I got my video camera out for the first time since I have been here to record this event. I feel that this footage could become part of some work, footage of several Nepali girls crouching on the floor smashing these beautiful bangles with rolling pins, there seems to be some symbolism in this action. Even the way that Mumta was scooping up the pieces and putting them in a box, it had a similar action to sorting rice or beans. I have been making some sketchs for a Naga (snake) woman sculpture that we could construct in the same way that we have made the smaller sculptures. Working on this collaboratively, making a larger structure. Nagas are worshiped by women and are associated with fertility. Speaking of fertility and as I have mentioned before the obvious symbolism of Hinduism on Sunday we visited the Siva temple in Patan, there the pujari was performing rites around a Siva Lingham, decorated with flowers and fruit. A pan of water was dripping onto the Siva Lingham from above. It reminded me again of the ceremony that we had witnessed in Utterkarshi, with the newly married couple pouring milk over the Lingham. I hope that what I am teaching the girls is useful to them, I think that they are learning useful skills. I am exited by the idea of collaborating with them. It is quite strange as I rarely make real sculptures these days and actually it is quite pleasurable playing with plaster and clay.