c.2024
45/70/200 cm
This work initiates a broader body of work exploring post-humanism as a conceptual space for decolonising identity. In a reimagining of the white flag, Surrender acts as a transitional marker, urging viewers to pause, confront, and negotiate the colonial, Eurocentric binaries of violence and domination embedded in Western conceptions of being human.
Amid diasporic complexities of globalisation and creolization that fragment identity, and neo-colonial systems of borders and nations that severely restrict mobility for subaltern communities, the piece proposes a departure from being human—a symbolic shedding of skin as a liberatory act.
The flag’s shape is derived from a UV map (a digitally rendered 2D topographical projection of a 3D form) of a human head. Its surface is marked by a hole positioned where a bindi traditionally rests, referencing this ancient Indian symbol for ‘the point at which creation begins’ to suggest an opening of new possibilities. Crafted with aluminium—a non-corrosive, widely used metal rooted in extractive colonial histories yet vital to contemporary and future technologies—the work presents the material's illusion of structural strength with its extraordinary malleability, mirroring the fragility and fluidity inherent in this transitional era.
Artist’s Note:
By including themselves in the materials list (ekabo donyi & aluminium), the artist rejects human-centric hierarchies, reframing creation as a collaborative dialogue with materials. This act aligns with decolonial and post-anthropocentric thought, emphasizing reciprocity over utilization.
Amid diasporic complexities of globalisation and creolization that fragment identity, and neo-colonial systems of borders and nations that severely restrict mobility for subaltern communities, the piece proposes a departure from being human—a symbolic shedding of skin as a liberatory act.
The flag’s shape is derived from a UV map (a digitally rendered 2D topographical projection of a 3D form) of a human head. Its surface is marked by a hole positioned where a bindi traditionally rests, referencing this ancient Indian symbol for ‘the point at which creation begins’ to suggest an opening of new possibilities. Crafted with aluminium—a non-corrosive, widely used metal rooted in extractive colonial histories yet vital to contemporary and future technologies—the work presents the material's illusion of structural strength with its extraordinary malleability, mirroring the fragility and fluidity inherent in this transitional era.
Artist’s Note:
By including themselves in the materials list (ekabo donyi & aluminium), the artist rejects human-centric hierarchies, reframing creation as a collaborative dialogue with materials. This act aligns with decolonial and post-anthropocentric thought, emphasizing reciprocity over utilization.