After a formal study of Russian icon painting, I created this work with traditional egg tempera pigments. Integrating my environmental studies background, I painted the geologic maps of the formative mountain ranges in my diasporic life — the Himalayas, the Three Sisters, and the Adirondacks. Ever the literal artist, I enjoyed the intimacy between material and subject, as I used handmade mineral pigments to evoke a geologic landscape. Intricate patterns emerge in gold from an eighteenth century Indian sewing table I encountered while working at the Allen Memorial Art Museum. Sari fabric flows in the upper left corner, and this in combination with the sewing table patterns translates my interest in textiles and specifically in my female lineage of craftswomen.
Unravel, Overlap, Overflow, 2023
I began this painting at the start of my senior year of college — a time of reflection and culmination, during which I began to grasp the diaspora I myself embody. In my research I happened upon an account of Indian indentured workers tucking seeds into the folds of their saris before embarking toward unfamiliar lands. This redirected my approach to fabric, leaving me preoccupied with cloth as a repository of memories and remnants of organic life. Each time I install this painting I drape it with sari fabric lent by friends and family.
Building upon the traditional use of gold foil in icons, I translated this to explore the significance of gold jewelry in India and BedStuy alike, articulating this shared visual and material culture from two of my home bases.
Hovering over these many elements extend life-sized hands of members of my South Asian community. After many years of searching and doubt surrounding my mixed heritage, I wanted to recognize and remind myself of how our shared experiences have helped me arrive at my current peace.
Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, Patron Saint of Ecology, Indigenous North Americans, and People in Exile, 2022
The Birth of Kali, from the Minds of Parvati and Durga, 2021
