Banerjee discusses her fascination with the word Disgust (the title for her current solo exhibition at L.A. Louver), and how it manifests in her new sculptures, paintings and drawings.

The following is an excerpt that touches on the painting Lost and Found (featured above).

Do you think what’s designated as “disgusting” remains semi-consistent between times and cultures?

In this show, I wanted to reflect upon the circumstances that have changed over my lifetime that have shown how, as a culture, we’ve changed. One, for example, is a circus performer or zoo trainer who is dressed very scantily and beautifully, standing in front of a rhino. She has whips in both hands and both her and the rhino are performing for an audience. We’re from a time when there are zoos and there are circuses but also, we’ve grown to have standards for what is acceptable and what’s not. What qualifies as cruelty towards animals, what is disgraceful or shameful, all those things are always growing in our minds and shifting toward our new standards.

This image marks what used to be a favorite thing for me. Now I always worry about going to the zoo, whether it’s in India or Amsterdam or San Diego. These spaces are tropes of our past, where we experienced the world. Whether it be the world of exotic animals or animals that are extinct or animals that live in the desert or the forest. We experienced them through these kinds of media, in public. We’ve grown to learn from our mistakes, to become more sensitive, and now we’re, in a sense, gardeners of this world. Other works have to do with women and culture and how they’ve learned to understand who they are and what they want to be, and shaping that.

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Rina Banerjee: Disgust is one view at L.A. Louver through 28 June. 

IMAGE: Rina Banerjee, Lost and Found, 2014, acrylic, ink on wood panel, Framed: 13 3/8 x 12 3/8 x 1 ½ in. (34 x 31.4 x 3.8 cm)