My Practice

My practice is a continuation of my previous years’ work. I have been exploring my identity as a Hindu and how my beliefs and culture may not be different to others that surround me. So I have been researching the Hindu culture. This year in particular, I have grown and interest in designs, patterns and colours that are used within the culture. So I have been researching into that. Whether it be sacred or secular, and comparing and combining it with designs and patterns from other cultures or countries.

As I’ve had a growing interest in pattern and Hindu culture, I thought to research into the origins and history of henna art which is a form of eastern body art. I’ve also been looking into carvings and designs on buildings across Europe as I had seen some similarities between the different design whilst traveling.

Because of my interest in design and pattern, some of the artist I have been looking at include, Beatriz Milhaze, Dan Funderburgh, William Morris and Chila Kumari Burman, Singh twins.  Other than Chila and the Singh Twins they all have the ‘pattern’ element in their work, were as these Chila and the twins explore their Indian identity.
 This research led me to change the way I create my work. I used oil and wax on canvas and now I’ve been exploring using ink and clay different platform like tiles. I use ink to mimic to designs created mechanically. I also use fine liners to create the smaller details within the patterns. As well as all the secondary research I have interviewed my elder family members,like my grandmother, who talked about making art in India in her youth with limited supplies,which in turn had influenced me to use clay.

 As well as working in the studio or within four walls, I like to work outside as through my research I found that most of the henna patterns and designs are nature inspired. By working outside the different patterns in nature help influence the designs I create.  

 

Here is an example of one of the fine line designs i have created while sitting outside, inspired Henna art and the nature around me.  

After creating a few intricate designs, and interviewing family, I created this piece. I have piped a clay design onto the wood canvas and filled the canvas with vibrant, contrasting colours, similar to traditional Indian outfits. 

I then changed the material I was working with. Inspired by working with after an talking to family, i decided to use a found tile. I thought it a good idea to bring in all the all the different parts of my research into one idea. The designs I create are influenced by architecture and Henna art, thus I decided that having my design on a tile would be a good idea.  On this piece, I have used Indian Ink to create the designs. The symmetry has been influenced by architecture and so has the arched and geometric shapes. The floral designs have been influenced by Henna art and William Morris. 

So what is next for me? In my previous works I tended to have used a lot of colour which I enjoyed. However, in my current work, I have used less and my art work has been more monochromatic. Therefore, I would like to create more work that has more colour and that is more celebratory like the Hindu culture I am exploring. As for as the materials I will use, I will like to continue to experiment using tiles to create repeated styled designs like William Morris.