Suppressed Desires
Artist
Rani Jha (Indian, 1963)
Date
2018Medium
Acrylic paint on paperDimensions
Sheet : 22 1/4 x 30 1/4 in. (56.52 x 76.83 cm)Credit Line
Hope College Collection, purchased with funds bequeathed by Roberta VanGilder '53 KayeObject Number
2020.28.9
Label
Traditionally in India many girls and women have been expected to suppress their interests and desires in deference to the interests and desires of their parents, husbands and other family members. In recent decades, however, advocates for women’s rights in India have been encouraging families to allow their female members more freedom to explore their capabilities and pursue their own passions. Artist Rani Jha has represented this social transformation symbolically by depicting a group of young women surrounding a garden tree that has risen above and broken through the fencing that once surrounded it.
