Bharti Kher (b. 1969) gives form to quotidian life and its daily rituals in a way that reassesses and transforms their meaning to yield an air of magical realism. Now living in New Delhi, India, her use of found objects is informed by her own position as an artist located between geographic and social milieus. Her way of working is exploratory: looking, collecting, and transforming, as she repositions the viewer’s relationship with the object.The bindi is an iconic personal affect of Indian women that is one of Kher’s signature materials and a loaded symbol. Kher explains: ‘Many people believe it’s a traditional symbol of marriage, in the West particularly people see it as a fashion accessory… Actually the bindi is meant to represent a third eye—one that forges a link between the real and the spiritual-conceptual worlds.’