Practice
Remi Rana-Allen is a visual artist who investigates the construction of British Indian female identity and ‘the maternal’, as informed by her personal experience. This is specified by being a British born Indian woman whose body maps her identity, its perception and reception by appearance. Of Indian heritage, culturally British not English. Rana-Allen’s practice employs paintings, digital prints, film, and object-based installations, and processes that represent intimacy, transformation, time and touch. Through postcolonial and feminist theory, her contemporary art practice aims to represent the complexities of race, gender inequalities, sexuality, migration and cultural assimilation. The importance of her practice and research is highlighted by ‘the slow dilution of my cultural heritage as it seeps further from my grasp.’ (Rana Allen 2018).
Research
Practice Based PhD Chelsea College of Art, University of the Arts London
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Artistically Unfolding: The role of ‘the maternal’ in the construction of British-Indian female identity amongst women in the author’s matrilineal line 1914 - 2023
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Abstract
This art practice-based thesis investigates the construction of British-Indian identity among women in my matrilineal line between 1914 – 2023, mapping this development across India, Kenya and Britain. It is informed by my experiences, as a British-born Indian woman whose body maps her dual identity, its perception and reception. I draw on diverse artistic productions, including paintings, digital prints, film, and object-based installations. I employ Clark’s (1999) method of autodriving, a technique of eliciting responses from photographs. I utilise post-colonial feminist theory and sociological analysis to make sense of key narratives of my history.
This research examines contemporary representations of British-Indian women, grounded in colonial ideas about inherent differences between (backwards, traditional) eastern and (progressive, civilised) western societies. These understandings construct British-Indian women as lacking agency, subservient family caretakers, and keepers of family honour.
Through an intersectional analysis incorporating theories of religion, caste, race, class and gender, and a critique of patriarchy, my thesis challenges these limited representations about British-Indian women, specifically in their maternal roles.
My experiences as a mother, daughter, wife, and artist inform my PhD, revealing a trajectory of unlearning what I thought was my identity, to reflecting and reevaluating, and rebuilding by learning from my past and future.