Preparation for the Next Act…?

Preparation For the Next Act…? is a work that Anupam Sud made in Fukuoka, Japan, where she had travelled for a residency in the late 1980s. Impressed by Kabuki theatre, which she encountered there, the artist found herself fascinated by the masks and the ghost-like make-up that the actors used. The work shows a nude woman wearing a mask on her face in preparation for the next act, the bright red lips of the mask being the only element of colour in an otherwise monochromatic print.