Arts Thread

Human lives revolve around stories. We are raised absorbing fairy tales, fables, legend, lore and most poignantly, collections of family anecdotes. It is a very human nature to question the story of one’s origins and seek an understanding for one’s place in this world. Children who grow with the presence of grandparents and family elders are often privy to stories of old and gold and are blessed with retellings of life in a time so vastly different to their present day. But when one’s ancestry stretches beyond the borders, to a country far from what one considers their current home, trying to imagine the lives of far-gone ancestors that brought us to this point becomes even more difficult and often intangible. Gathering stories from my grandparents' elusive pasts before they migrated from India in the mid 20th Century, I compiled narratives, memories and anecdotes into an illustrative book form. Alongside these images, I narrated the stories that inspired me, giving a direct link between the image and the piece if history it came from. My hope is that this ancestral history will continue to stay alive in the generations beyond me. Despite having no physical connection the one’s roots, it is so important children never lose their original identities and erase a part of them that is so culturally rich and beautiful simply because they had nothing to keep as a record.

In the mid-20th Century, my young grandparents moved from their Gujarati villages, on the West Indian coast, travelling to England in search of stability. They settled in respective cities, building up new lives and families, yet always maintaining a strong connection and yearning for their original homeland. Generations later amongst their many grandchildren including myself, that connection is almost fully severed. I have never visited India, never seen my ancestral village, never fully learnt the Gujarati language, never entirely known what brought me here and where I came from. This project questions what I actually know about my history and heritage. Who were my grandparents before they moved, where specifically did they come from, and what is this gap in the story of my ancestry?

Homeland Reverie is a series of luxury prints for upholstery, fabric and wall-covering range for high-end interiors and furnishing. The collection pays homage to the diverse ethnic heritage in the West Indian region of Gujarat – a family homeland that I have never seen. Each pattern draws on direct memories of my grandparent’s experiences in mid-20th Century India before they sailed to a new life in England, interpreted through a surreal lens as I attempt to reimagine a life, long gone with the passage of time and modern advancements. The imagery navigates the entirety of the Gujarati experience from tribal embroidery and handicraft to traditional fabrics and patterns, native crops, language, and authentic recipe methods. The collection caters to the eclectic eccentric, weaving rich narratives into modern interiors through a range of detailed and heavily layered prints for busy walls and furnishings. These are balanced by the rhythmic symmetry of the simpler complementary prints that can work as an alternative range for a contemporary look. My methodology has explored a range of traditional methods, from laser cut embossing to wood block, lino, screen, and mono printing, ceramics, quilting, and embroidery based on my own initial drawings. These have been translated into a digital format to create my traditional, yet surreal collection, and digitally printed onto velvet and poly-chenille to reflect the high-end interiors they are intended for.