Loha Toar, Loha Khoar (Iron Breakers, Iron Eaters)

My work-in-progress titled Loha Toar, Loha Khoar (Iron Breakers, Iron Eaters) reflects on and critiques the exploitation of cheap labor in South Asia for ship-breaking and the resulting usage of hazardous wastes such as PCBs, asbestos and lead. For these workers, despite the exposure to unsafe working conditions, the opportunity to work in the ship-breaking yard is often the only means of economic survival. This work also addresses the current degradation of the environment in South Asia as the result of ship-breaking and the tandem growth of business and commercial growth of this industry. Loha Toar, Loha Khoar utilizes the graphic and informational qualities of print media and Pop Art, and combines it with South Asian geographic and historical references.