Apple of Sodom
PU on brass
50”width x 38”depth x 32”ht
2026
Wt-31.74kg

Arka grows where the earth is forsaken, arid soils, neglected corners, places marked by absence.
From this starkness it rises, embodying resilience and detachment, it’s stem bleeds a milky poison,
avoided by all, even goats and camels, other than the delicate Monarch Butterfly. The larvae feed on
what others fear, transforming venom into protection. In this quiet act of survival lies a mirror of
Shiva’s cosmic sacrifice; his drinking of the Halahala during the Samudra Manthan, turning
destruction into preservation, poison into nectar.
Placing Calotropis blossoms at the feet of Shiva is to offer one’s fallibilities, to seek purification and
redemption. It is a flowering paradox: harsh yet sacred, perilous yet a salve. In its presence, we
glimpse the eternal rhythm of resilience and transformation of life blooming in a desert.