India, July 10 -- Imagine a coconut tree. Now, imagine rows upon rows of human figures, painstakingly carved from wood and pinned onto the tree with long, sharp nails. Their bland expressions normalise the impaling, and despite their large numbers, this isn't a show of strength. Ochhakal or Reverberations, as this large sculpture is known, is as unsettling as it sounds. And it is just as artist Vinu VV intended it to be.

This work, exhibited at the Kochi-Muziris Biennale in 2018, brings together sculptural figures, everyday objects, literary references and historical memories. It depicts the cruel treatment meted out to marginalised groups, particularly members of the Dalit community, to which the artist belongs. The figures are carved f...