Beyond the shock of her mighty iconography – her blackness, her nakedness, her garland of skulls and skirt of severed hands, the blood and weapons – lies the personification of resilience, summoned to efface all evil. In her hands is Vidyut Shakti, the lightning force of consciousness; the whole universe establishes from her invincible force.
Kalika by Princess Pea represents this spirit in the wake of the times we live in. How might we imagine a contemporary Kali? How does she occupy our lives and homes? The artist takes away the embellished avatar, to lay bare her greatest power – raw womanhood – the might make and the might destroy, to speak to the face of absolute power, misogyny, sexism; against, lopsided opportunities, the economic back foot, and patriarchy; against compromises, crimes and a history of being silenced, systematically and otherwise. Kalika will stand, Kalika will summon and Kalika will conquer.
Kali 2020, Wood, Stained with black ink, edition of 500
