Shilpa Gupta creates artworks that examine notions of desire, conflict and security. Though her works could be interpreted as being based on social or political situations, rooted in particular cultural contexts, Gupta keeps their specificity decidedly open, allowing them the space for reinterpretation wherever they are shown.

WheredoIendandyoubegin is a neon sign text work by Gupta. Functioning as a piece of visual poetry, the spaces between the words and the question mark are absent, making one compounded word. The work can be understood as a reflection on the make-up of society, considering the tensions between private and public, and the boundaries of where one person’s actions encroach on the space of another. The work is always presented in locations that are in one way or another ‘in between’ spaces or situations. For example, the work was previously presented on the Danish coast, and on another occasion presented in Edinburgh during the lead up to the referendum on Scottish independence. Here—in the heavily segregated city of Gothen–burg—the work is presented in the Gamlestaden district, considered a transitional zone or industrial no-man’s-land, between the city centre and underprivileged suburban zones, such as Angered, that have seen heavy migration.

Shilpa Gupta is based in Mumbai.