| I’m a London based Textile artist
specialising in issue based art. In textiles, I have found the perfect medium
though with to convey my feelings and personal history. I feel very
passionately about this project as I am a female, south asian, refugee, artist,
teacher, pacifist, environmentalist Hindu. But I am not a victim. Art has
always helped me express myself. As a child when I moved to the UK in the
early 1970’s I could not speak English. My natural language of communication
and expression was art. It still is. I feel that this project gives a voice
to the voiceless in much the same way that my art has given me a voice. This
work is about capturing the beauty and despair of everyday life in miniature
snapshots. Viewed from a distance you are enticed with colours and beauty,
much like life itself. As you are drawn into the piece you begin to unravel
the inner anguish that we are all faced with. The piece consists of a web
like tapestry entangling five distinct elements. The iconic white stars represent
the many states of America, as they do in the Stars spangled banner. This
sets the piece up to be a banner of Resistance. The red words are grotesque
nouns which have entered the daily lexicon by being granted legitimacy
through presidential usage. The yellow diamond “warning signs” are
representative of the signs that are being blindly passed as the current
administration leads the country down a dangerous road. The miniature
artworks represent the best of America with evocative themes such as “apple
pie”, baseball, Uncle Sam, Native American culture and commerce. Things that
are clearly worth fighting for. The final element captures the essence of the
“Self”. The resistance within. It is represented by mirrors which force the
viewer to look at themselves and understand their own power. Challenging them
not to become passive observers in the the change that is taking place around
them. All of my life I have been creating art based on issues that evoke
passion within me. This project has helped me pull all of that experience and
emotion into one definitive piece. |
Spectre of the Real 