not invisible / nicht unsichtbar, Time Flies bronze stamps (in German and & English)

This work comprises two small-scale bronze engraved stamps mounted onto wooden bases, measuring 8.8cm in length by 2.8 cm at its widest, with the diameter of the bronze stamp itself measuring 1.2cm. Designed by Sutapa Biswas, they were produced in collaboration with a local German stamp maker, Walter, during her Residency at Schloss Balmoral, in Bad Ems - a small historic spa town in the Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. As a town, Bad-Ems is historically one of the few locations in Germany whose bridges were not destroyed by the allied forces during WWII. Walter's skills were learned from his father, and his trade passed down his family for generations. As shared with Biswas (via his wife), his family's business would most likely have had made 'official stamps' for the Third Reich during is reign.

Each stamps bears a tiny engraved image of a small chaffinch based on a drawing made by Biswas during her residency; a bird she encountered on her walks in Bad Ems. For Biswas the bird remains an important recurring leitmotif within her practice since the passing of her father in 2000. A small engraved text sits around the engraved bird on both stamps. On one stamp, the text is written in English and reads 'not invisible'. On the other stamp the words written in German, reads 'nicht unsichtbar' - which translated into English means 'not invisible'.

2011 - Nara Roesler gallery, PINTA, London

2009 - Group exhibition, Schloss Balmoral, Bad Ems