The Shift

In 2015, the artist traveled to India’s Maharashtra state to capture the sugar manufacturing process during the crushing season. The video documents the around-the-clock operations in one of the sugar factories as they crush sugarcane, extract and clarify the juice, boil it down, and crystallize it into white sugar. The camera follows the intricate performance of human workers and machines, creating a complex industrial landscape that reflects the relationships and dependencies between these actors. The work holds personal significance for the artist, extending themes of exclusion, narrative through the body, and postcolonial labor migration and export trajectories, which have affected her own family.