Nazar na lage / Knock on wood

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Nazar na lage loosely translates to “knock on wood”, a superstitious Indian phrase meant to ward off negative energy. Artist Noni Kaur’s vibrant rangoli work welcomes visitors back into the gallery after years of pandemic upheaval. A cultural practice in India and Singapore, the art of rangoli uses coloured materials to decorate floors in domestic and public spaces. Traditionally made from powder pigments, flowers, rice, or sand, this practice attracts positive energy for celebrating auspicious occasions.

Kaur’s work highlights the effect of cultural conditioning on labour-intensive rituals of preparations. The process takes months to complete – beginning by hand-dying mounds of desiccated coconut and then forming the design in situ. The shape of Kaur’s rangoli begins with an O, a historic symbol of feminine energy. As the work morphs and curves, it begins to take on an abstract human form.

As time passes, the desiccated coconut and non-toxic materials allow the artwork to become a repository of energy for the microbial systems living in the installation. The mylar window works depicts the microbial formations occurring deep in the rangoli. Images of the cellar forms are projected on the sculptural floor installation as the sun’s light changes throughout the day. As the work slowly decays over the course of the exhibition, it mirrors the cycle of life, death, and return to the earth.

*Image Credit: Cole Swanson

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Art Gallery of Burlington

The Art Gallery of Burlington is Burlington’s public art gallery and community centre. We are a place of intersection where creators, cultures and communities meet and share in the wealth of human creativity.