“It is the greatest of all mistakes to do nothing because you can only do so little.”
as worlds turn reflective
craving more,
a monstrous tide, a hurricane
storms smashing
seas angry whipping against the shore
unsuspecting, hunting
our license brief, unlikely to be renewed
drought and famine
cracking the surface of the earth
fires burning angrily
we ignoring
the burning Earth pleading, warning, crying,
yet strengthened
questions yet to be answered
Is it too late to undo the cuts on the flesh?
face the truth – explain, distinguish
what we know from what we believe
the overwhelming evidence presented,
yet deliberately we ignore,
acutely aware yet unaware
What are we doing?
raising our glasses to the vagaries of fate?
unprecedented, unthinkable, distant, uncertain, and incomprehensible
the devastation, shocking
we believe
carbon a universal element
the government wants control
it all boils down to power and politics?
not much hope
we think- abstract, distant, invisible, disputed
no pressing deadlines
the threat is real, lingering, going on and on
not believing or immobilized
silence about the silence
meta-silence it is
believe what you want to believe
uncertainty as a justification for inaction?
the pen is leaking, spilling, messing our clothes
but what about oil, burning destroying
Has our society advanced?
choosing to destruct itself
the earth in process,
passing into morbid fever
finally the state of coma and then death.
the myth of permanence lingering
the belief, it will adapt
there ceases to be the prize
imperceptibility
our tissue wrapped perspective
to be ripped
what matters is the sudden breadth of vision
Stop.stop.stop.
Sarika Goulatia (she/her/hers) is an Asian American artist. She was born in India and immigrated to the United States in 2002.
“I am an immigrant artist, a woman of color, and a mother to two children.”
Goulatia has a master’s in Textiles Design and Development (printing, surface embellishments, and weaving) and did residencies in rural India, England, Hong Kong, and the United States. In 2004 she changed her career path and received a BFA from Carnegie Mellon University, where she completed her bachelor’s in two years.
As a diaspora artist, her work stems from the intersection of her dual national identity; the synergy of this distinctiveness allows her to break through cultural barriers.
“As an immigrant who has always tried to assimilate, I had a rude awakening when Trump was elected.”
Work created by Sarika Goulatia.
Work created by Sarika Goulatia.
“The Charlottesville riots took place that my kids, my husband and I, and all who looked like us would always be the other because of the color of our skin, our accent, the language we speak, or the religion we chose to follow or not to follow. Microaggression and institutionalized racism made me angry with myself for feigning obliviousness, hiding my accomplishments, appeasing incongruities.”
Goulatia is a visual artist best known for her large-scale visceral sculptures and installations. Her artistic practice touches on the frailty of human experience, often drawing on personal challenges and socio-political and cultural issues affecting our society.
“I explore ideas of modern society’s views on rights for women, subjugation of minorities, capitalism’s impact on climate change, and the effect of social media on mental health. I challenge thoughts and express raw emotions of empowerment in my work.“
“I try to engage people to dialogue, think and contemplate, and I hope the work provokes them to react and feel to change society towards a more equitable future.”
Her work ranges from sculpted ceramics to cast bronzes and aluminum, assemblages using found objects, fabricated acrylic panels, digital prints to nail, pin drawings on wood and paper.
“The impetus for my work came from me dreaming of a day when we stop being the perfunctory minority which brings pleasant diversity to a white workplace, the day we are free of labels and spends less time cautiously positioning our words, our gestures, our clothes, our food, our surroundings so that we fit in and don’t appear threatening, unusual or unappreciative.”
After Historic Futures, Goulatia will have a show at the first-ever National Indo-American museum. The show opens on October 16th and runs till April 2022.
For more information on Goulatia’s work, please visit Sarika Goulatia’s official website.
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