Rupy C. Tut

Lot #70
Memory of the Divine, 2019
Natural pigments, shell gold, and tea stain on handmade hemp paper
19 x 17 inches
Courtesy of the artist

About the Artist

As a descendant of refugees and a first-generation immigrant, Rupy C. Tut’s family narrative of movement, loss, and resilience is foundational to her creative inquiries. Centuries ago within the Indian painting tradition, artists painted and carried with them an image of the divine feet of the deity that they and their families worshipped most ardently. Tut’s Memory of the Divine reassigns divinity from gods to humans in the form of a painting of the feet of refugees like the artist’s own grandparents. Tut metaphorically carries this image with her to her studio in memory of displaced individuals, a symbolic reminder of their absence in our collective world landscape. The artist’s research for this work is grounded in archival images of the Holocaust, the 1947 Partition of India, evacuations during recent California fires, and recent displacement events in the Middle East and South Asia. Engaging in traditional methodologies of the Indian miniature painting tradition, Tut’s work adds contemporary images and characters to a centuries-old visual language.

Retail Value: $8,600