2016

Daily Puja

Installation

Daily Puja is an installation I did in response to misconceptions about Hinduism; the assumptions that make us feel isolated. Typically, people assume that Hinduism is a form of "evil" or "demonic" worshipping or religion that houses multiple deities with many limbs when in reality Hinduism is one of the oldest religions in the world. Religion involves rituals and heavy symbolism. This piece represents the daily rituals that many households go through every day. This piece is also to invoke a sense of understanding of others' lifestyles, cultures, religions, et cetera without the sense of intimidation that one might get when learning something new.

Before stepping out of the space, viewers are encouraged to read the set of rules displayed. These rules are taught to every Hindu at a young age and now viewers are told these rules. There are four paintings in each niche and behind each painting are objects that viewers can look at or interact with. Each niche has a prompt as to what to do with each object. 

Before Walking into Space

Daily Puja, Mixed Media, 2016

Hanuman, Acrylic, 2016

Saraswati, Acrylic, 2016

Ganesh, Acyclic, 2016

Goma, Acrylic, 2016

Behind the Paintings

Research Text

Indentured Servitude Series

Painting

This series deals with the Indian diaspora (indentured servitude/labour) in Fiji between 1879 and 1916. Britain at the time advocated for the abolition of slavery and thus decided to utilize this archaic method of labour for its various colonies. This series deals with indentured servitude in Fiji; utilizing photographs of these labourers and emigration passes to create a museum-like feel to this series. The background comprises of mehndi designs to create a more dignified/regal and cohesive look to the series.

(Woman) Indentured Series, Acrylic, 2016

(Man) Indentured Series, Acrylic, 2016

(Girl) Indentured Series, Acrylic, 2016

(Man in Turban) Indentured Series, Acrylic, 2016

The inspiration for this series came from personal family history. My great-great-grandfather emigrated from India to Fiji in hopes of earning a better income. However, by the time indentured servitude was abolished in Britain and all labourers were emancipated, my great-great-grandfather did not make enough money to back to India and thus created life in Fiji.

Interpreting Hinduism

Collaborative Watercolour Series

This series deals with the theme of interpretation. In Hinduism, iconography is heavily used for worship and artistic appreciation. In the religious text (Puranas), there are no illustrations or pictures incorporated, and so artists from ancient times now rely on the descriptions in the text to create these icons. There are roughly 8 Puranas and 3 Vedas in Hinduism. The ones used for this series are from the Bhagavad Gita, Ramayana, and many more.

Interpreting Hinduism, Collaborative Watercolour Series, 2016

Close-Up

Close-Up 2

In this series, I read and took notes on the descriptive language used to describe deities, demons and places. With these descriptions, I created illustrations (top rows in the photos) and after I had two people create illustrations in association with the text (bottom rows in the photos). This series was interesting to create, as the viewer got to see the different interpretations of the same descriptive text. The pedestal in one of the photos posted here has the research used for this series.