“The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven.” These lines from Paradise Lost come to mind on encountering Mahjabin Imam Majumdar’s artworks in the exhibition, Faltering Repose (Ganges Art Gallery). The overwhelming use of flesh and nude tones makes her works resemble the inner recesses of the mind where strange dreams are being conjured up. In these dreams — nightmares? — the lines between woman and beast are fluid and blurred. On a superficial level, it may seem like the artist is making a connection with bestiality, but the predominance of skulls seems to hint at the persecution of women and animals, especially in Bestiary - 3. Imam Majumdar is also plagued by ideas about female identity and how its locus is almost always external, drawing from social norms.

Although Imam Majumdar is skilled with both acrylic and watercolour, her deftness with the latter is evident from the effortless blending of a fickle medium.