Part of the Essence of Containment series, these images feature installations presented at Sanskriti-Kendra, Delhi, India, 2012 to 2015. Installations included projections, diorama boxes, ochres and spices on canvas, tin kolum and rice flower stencils, mirrors, films and soundscapes. The work explored archival images and objects that have been traded and transformed, in India and along other global trade routes.

The Essence of Containment: Traversing the Terrain of Trade and Transformation is Vicki McConville’s ongoing studio based research project. The project was initiated at Monash University, Melbourne, Australia as part of a PhD (Fine Art / Research).

Between 2011 and 2017 Vicki McConville was an Artist in Resident in Venice, Istanbul, Delhi, Beijing, all major sites on historical and contemporary ‘trade routes’. The residencies involved collection of  visual, sound and text based  research materials  followed by creative production, international collaborations and presentations. 

The project initially investigated travel, trade and the personal transformation impact on images and iconography and involved creative production in projections, video, sound, print media and diorama constructions. 

The research involves exploring how travel and trade are immersive methodologies that lead to the transformation of iconographies. In essence, how ‘the container’ of trade changed the world. 

The concept of ‘the container’ has since been further explored as it relates to the use of psychedelics as a means of personal transformation.

The work, still in progress, has been shown at Monash University, Melbourne, Scuola Internazionale di Grafica, Venice, Italy, Sanskriti Foundation Delhi, the C.e.C, Bhimtal, India, the Kochi Muziris Biennale, India and at the Atelier Mondial , Basel, as part of Art Basel, Switzerland.