Portfolio 2
For this piece, the goddesses tell the story of Phoolan Devi, a lower-caste woman in India who endured physical and sexual violence, became a bandit, was imprisoned without trial, and after her release became a member of parliament before her assassination in 2001. The goddesses demand a liberatory remaking of the past, present, and future that understands women of color as the creators of radical political justice.
In part one, the primordial ancestor "Aaji" emerges from the forest and introduces Phoolan's story through a series of movements which translate to the voice-over text. In part two, the Goddess Durga appears as Phoolan Devi (first introduced in the "How to Be a Monster" series in 2015) and speaks as Phoolan in the first person, recounting her trauma and anger. In part three, the Goddess Lakshmi takes Phoolan's story to the streets, specifically Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles, encountering a mix of tourists and locals who wander the center of the dominant culture's imagination.