oh my beloved red robed protector
“Laal meri pat” (transl. Oh my beloved red robed protector) is a phrase from a revered Sufi composition, which holds vivid language that conveys an intensity of devotional surrender and longing. I lean into this phrase as a title for a series of works that perceive the colour red not merely as a pigment but as an atmospheric presence that cloaks the surface and pulse of each piece. Drawn to the colour red for its multifarious symbolic interpretations, the works here are blanketed by its invocation, weaving metaphors of cultural memories into a dialogue with an open field of meaning.
.1.
‘Humming the memory of every hand that held mine’
‘Humming the memory of every hand that held mine’ is an archival photography project in becoming, where I collect archival images from my ancestral lands and reimagine their stories in the darkroom. Journeying through time, red dissolves the thresholds between the imaginary borderlines of India and Pakistan, red dissolves languages into one, with syllables staining the tongue with longing older than speech. Shadows are diffused in red, leaving an infusion that stretches across centuries of forgetting. This is the warm hush of breath shared between generations.
.2.
“I cannot see myself anymore”
Sticking bindis on the bathroom mirror is an accidental ritual many South Asian mother's carry out. This piece pushes that ritual further, flooding the mirror with bindis that block self-perception. Contact me for details on installation possibilities.
Sticking bindis on the bathroom mirror is an accidental ritual many South Asian mother's carry out. This piece pushes that ritual further, flooding the mirror with bindis that block self-perception. Contact me for details on installation possibilities.
.3.
“I use my hands to press your feet; a bed of blessings”
The sculpture "I use my hands to press your feet; a bed of blessings” represents the imagined feet of my ancestors. By imprinting my fingers into clay, I made a pair of feet with many toes, to hold space for the infinite generations of my ancestry.
In some Indian cultures, we touch the feet of our elders to seek their blessings, as a way of valuing their wisdom. The red pigment (kumkum) that is scattered into the embedded grooves of the sculpture is a symbol of devotion, used to anoint the third eye as a way of offering and receiving a blessing. Here, the red also alludes to the sacrifices of the generations before us. The powder on which the sculpture stands (vibhuti) is a sacred ash used by seekers on the spiritual path.
The poem is a segment of the sound piece that is a part of the performance of the work.
.4.
“Seeing as salt”
"Seeing as salt" is an installation in becoming, where sound meets salt, and salt meets you. In tracing salt histories through waters and lands, we witness ourselves. Please email me for further details.
"Seeing as salt" is an installation in becoming, where sound meets salt, and salt meets you. In tracing salt histories through waters and lands, we witness ourselves. Please email me for further details.
"Seeing as salt" is an installation in becoming, where sound meets salt, and salt meets you. In tracing salt histories through waters and lands, we witness ourselves. Please email me for further details.
"Seeing as salt" is an installation in becoming, where sound meets salt, and salt meets you. In tracing salt histories through waters and lands, we witness ourselves. Please email me for further details.
"Seeing as salt" is an installation in becoming, where sound meets salt, and salt meets you. In tracing salt histories through waters and lands, we witness ourselves. Please email me for further details.
"Seeing as salt" is an installation in becoming, where sound meets salt, and salt meets you. In tracing salt histories through waters and lands, we witness ourselves. Please email me for further details.