Medium: Acrylic paint and ink on paper
Dimensions: 11.7 x 19.5 inches
Year: 2024
About the artwork
The work "2+2=5" presents a direct engagement with Leonardo da Vinci’s iconic Vitruvian Man, which epitomises ideals of bodily perfection and symmetry rooted in classical proportions. This subversion serves as a commentary on societal expectations regarding body image and perfection, challenging the historical and patriarchal standards that have long dictated the "ideal" human form.
The title alludes to an Orwellian distortion of truth — a refusal to accept the status quo and a confrontation of imposed falsehoods. The text accompanying the image confronts systematic violence inflicted upon marginalised bodies by patriarchal systems. It is resolute in its resistance against this violence, asserting autonomy over one’s own body, intellect, and choices.The use of both English and Marathi in the text signifies a duality that could be read as a critique of colonial hierarchies and linguistic dominance. It acknowledges the complexities of voice and communication in a post-colonial context, where multiple identities and histories intersect.
Through a feminist lens, the asymmetrical depiction challenges the male gaze and traditional objectification of women in art and culture. The work also addresses the emotional labour women perform to have their voices heard, despite living in societies that claim to support freedom of speech.
The work serves as an act of resistance, using both visual and textual elements to confront patriarchal violence, reclaim bodily autonomy, and critique social hierarchies that confine women to stereotypical roles and images.
About the artist
Saviya Lopes is a visual artist, based in Vasai (Bassein), India. She graduated from Rachna Sansad AFAC, Mumbai and has participated in various group exhibitions in India and across the globe since 2015. She was a participating artist and later the Director at Clark House Initiative, Mumbai.
Coming from the community of East Indian Catholics, she often works with her native history, through family archives and oral narratives; drawing upon activities like quilt making by her grandmother as manifestations of dissent. Her work deftly unpicks; reimagines history and reconsiders it for future generations. It never wavers in choosing a visual language to reinterpret what is lost. Her works really speak on a feminist key, intersectional, where subtlety, transparency, and delicacy convey stories of violence, heritage, and colonialism. And so much more that there is to think from them. She is passionate about the role of women in relationship to labour and textile histories. Lopes’ artistic practice draws from experiences in the spaces she inhabits. She looks at the body as an active agent of societal protest and symbolic value. Her work shows interest in the interrelation between body, language, culture and navigation of spaces.
Solo and group exhibitions include an exhibition at Clark House Initiative, Bombay (2016); Dakar Biennale (2016); Historica – Republican Aesthetics at IMMA, Ireland (2016); Stories My Country Told Me, Asia Culture Centre, Gwan Pompidou, Paris (2017); Working Practices, The Showroom, London (2018); The Crown Letter Project, Foundation Fiminco, Paris (2021); Bienalsur, Argentina (2021); “No More Ephemeral Bodies | Solo at Kathiwada City House, Mumbai. She has been twice invited to South Korea for the Gwan Biennale as a fellow to participate and has participated as a visiting speaker at the Asia Art Space, Network Asia, South Korea. She was on the curatorial team for the Kochi Students Biennale 2022-23.
