Hetain Patel - Previous Practice

My work centres around the struggle to place my identity between two very different cultures.

I try to address what it means to have a social and cultural responsibility, and where one lies in relation to this. I approach this issue from my point of view as a second generation British Asian.

Trying to get to grips with this hybrid area between two cultures brought about my interest in language. In particular, semiotic pioneer Ferdinand Sausseur, who highlights the notion of not being able to think outside of language, that we do not speak language, but rather it speaks us.

However, if this suggests that different languages in any way dictate differing thought, then how is someone living between languages supposed to think?

Practically I have been interpreting this in-between area through photography, and more specifically, self-portraits. I have also recently been experimenting with video and will continue to use this medium along with photography.

All my images show an element of self styling, whether it be writing on myself or covering myself with red Kanku paste. This is an important aspect of my work as I see that ultimately the discovery or construction of my identity is largely in my own hands.

Whether it is in the traditional culture from my home life, the British culture of my host nation, or any third place in-between, to a large extent I impose it on myself.