Residual Marks

What if decay wasn't destruction, but revelation? In Neelam Saini's hands, termite damage becomes a map of the mind.

Artists

Neelam Saini (Dada Lakhmi Chand State University of Performing and Visual Arts, Rohtak)

Medium

Photographs, handmade paper, paper cutouts, papier maché

Venue

Vallabhdas Kanji Limited (VKL) Warehouse, Mattancherry, Fort Kochi, Kerala

Timings

10AM to 6PM (Monday to Sunday)

Till March 31st, 2026

About

Neelam's exploration of interiority takes place as a mirroring—of one's circumstance and the sphere of the domestic. The material turn in this installation of works, where the surface arises out of wood and paper pulp, invites viewers to consider corrosion, decay, and disrepair. Termite damage becomes a way to think through internal conflict and infestation within the mind. This corrosion takes on lattice-like formations, an aesthetic provocation for Neelam, where the surface holds as much as it succumbs. Through this material engagement, the artist invites negative space to take root.

Residual Marks is an installation that mirrors the domestic sphere with the landscape of interiority. Working with photographs, handmade paper, paper cutouts, and papier maché, Neelam creates surfaces that arise from wood and paper pulp—inviting us to consider corrosion, decay, and disrepair not as endings, but as openings.

Termite damage becomes a way to think through internal conflict and infestation within the mind. The corrosion takes on lattice-like formations, an aesthetic provocation where the surface holds as much as it succumbs.

What stays with you is how negative space takes root here. The gaps and voids aren't absences—they're presences, quietly insisting on being seen.

Kochi Biennale 2025