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2001-03 Khajuraho and Under the Skin

In 2001 Shelagh Cluett travelled to Khajuraho, an 11th century temple complex in Northern India. The exterior walls of the temple buildings are covered with scenes of Tantric rituals interspersed with daily activities. Khajuraho had long been a source of deep fascination for Cluett and on her visit she took several hours of film footage as well as hundreds of photographs. This exhaustive documentation served as material for much of the work Cluett produced after her trip. as is evidenced in the Khajuraho Series of digital prints, and her first digital film Under the Skin (2002). During her work on the Khajuraho Series Cluett became increasingly interested in the capabilities and limits of digital technology. She used her work to investigate the computer as an artist’s tool. She looked for chinks in the armour of graphic programs such as Photoshop, which she explored to introduce depth in the otherwise flat digital image on screen. Parts of this series were shown at the V&A in a group exhibition Digital Responses (2002), where Cluett’s work was shown alongside items in the museum’s collection.