Out of place by Rupy C.Tut

Rupy C.Tut’s bio states that ‘As a descendant of refugees and a first generation immigrant, Rupy’s family narrative of movement, loss, and resilience is foundational to her creative inquiries’. Tut’s current solo exhibition ‘Out of place’ at the Institute of contemporary art San Francisco (ICA SF), has five large works that investigate her immigrant status and the separation from the land of her ancestors.

In the brilliantly composed ‘Portrait of a women’ (fig 1), we encounter a women who is heavily pregnant and taking tentative steps into a very dense landscape. At first glance, this seems like a very calm and harmonious painting with analogous colors - blues, greens, yellows and orange. On closer inspection, the tension around her slowly becomes apparent. The flora around her is packed so tightly that there is no visible path ahead of her and it seems to be protected by a golden fence, or is it the golden rays of the promised land. The woman leaves behind the treacherous, swirling blue region which could either be waters or air.

Fig 1 : Portrait of a woman, 2023. Dimension : 56 x 36 in. Handmade pigment on hemp paper *

She wears a bright orange bodysuit, which announces her arrival, and the motif on the clothing is of eyes that are looking in all directions. These eyes represent how hyper-vigilant the women needs to be in order to protect herself and the life growing inside her. The expression on the face of the woman is solemn and her eyes are looking down. Tut’s masterful brush strokes capture the apprehension on the woman’s face and her vulnerability beautifully, while the detail of each flora in the landscape is painstakingly executed, one brush stroke at a time.

In a talk recently, Tut said that in South Asian culture, womanhood is often glorified only when you become a mother and she does not agree with this narrow definition of being a woman. On the subject of motherhood in the United States, Tut commented that ‘I feel like America is framing me to be a mother but not respecting my reproductive choices…and framing me to give birth but not protecting my children’.

In the painting, ‘Placing self’ (fig 2), a woman is in repose on a sun chair surrounded by a beautiful landscape of pastel pink hills. She is dressed in a simple ‘yellow-green’ suit and the contour of her body seems to be mimicking the landscape or vice versa. Rivets seem to be holding the body suit in place but looking closely, the motifs are of clocks and cameras. What could these represent? If I was to hazard a guess, perhaps memories of the past is what is giving her strength and holding up her armour. A single strand of very delicate white flowers, are used as her tiara and bracelet. To me, they look like fragrant jasmines, which for centuries have been used by Indian women to adorn themselves. The posture of her hand is the same as in ‘Portrait of a woman’, her hands resting on her abdomen. Barely visible under her hand is a delicately painted feather.

I asked Tut if the feather has any significance to her and she said that she used to be a bird-watcher when she had more time on her hands. By looking at how much attention she has paid while painting the feature, even though it’s would be missed at first glance, you can sense her love for birds. She also told me a sweet story about how a mourning dove sings by her studio in Oakland. Apparently this bird has the same song as a bird that visits her ancestral place back in India and brings back happy memories for Rupy. Birds, to her, are migratory and can move between borders effortlessly without restrictions.

Looking at the lower half of the painting, the sun chair in not placed over solid surface but on swirls of water (you can see tiny white fish peeking out). The base of the chair is barely above the surface of the water. However, at this particular moment in time, there is tranquility as seen on the resting and peaceful face of the model.

Fig 2 : Placing self, 2023. Dimensions : 36 x 49 in. Handmade pigments on hemp paper *

With the paintings in this exhibition, Tut has demonstrated mastery of her craft, from mixing paints, to creating the paper as well as wielding the brush deftly. Her attention to detail is evident in each inch of the works, however, it’s her complex compositions which are full of symbolism that keeps the viewer looking longer. The tranquility of both the landscape and the model seems just a little unsettling once you start to examine the details in each work. I guess it is this feeling and emotion that Tut is trying to convey, the feeling of just a bit of unease in an environment where you feel you don’t have roots and do not entirely belong in its narrative.

‘Out of place’ exhibition runs through Jan 7, 2024 at ICA San Francisco.

About the artist

Rupy C. Tut lives and works in Oakland, CA and is trained in calligraphy and traditional North Indian paintings (according to Tut, this style is well known by its colonial name of Indian miniature paintings) style created in the 18th century. The five paintings in this exhibition are executed in the traditional Indian painting style but they are not small in scale, ranging from around 36 inches to 56 inches. She mixes her own paints and usually paints on handmade paper but for this exhibition, she has some paintings on linen as well.

* Tut is represented by Jessica Silverman gallery in San Francisco and the images are courtesy of the gallery.