Corresponding notes for each piece. I draw the shape (that I cut out of the fabric) and call out the colors. My translator then writes the details in Hindi for the Rafoo Master. When the piece is returned to me the note is often stapled to the fabric, a remnant of the process.

My Mother-in-law and translator discussing the work to be done with the Rafoo Master.

Navneet, a Rafoo Master, reweaving the hole in one of the first Altered pieces.

Specific Objects (Red/Blue)
2023
Darned thread in found cloth
10.25 x 6.5 in
Specific Objects (Yellow/Blue)
Darned thread in found cloth
10.25 x 6.75 in
Specific Objects (Blue/Orange)
2023
Darned thread in found cloth
10.25 x 6.75 in
Drawn (Light Blue)
2019
Thread darned into found cloth
10.25 x 6.25 inches
Drawn (Dark Grey)
2019
Thread darned into found cloth
10.25 x 6.75 inches
Drawn (Green Grey and Black)
2020
Thread darned into found cloth
9.75 x 7 inches
Drawn (Red and Black)
2020
Thread darned into found cloth
10.25 x 7.25 inches
Fall
2019
Thread darned into found cloth
8 x 15.25 inches
Together
2017
Thread darned into found cloth
12.25 x 9 inches
Growth
2019
Thread darned into found cloth
11 x 7.5 inches
Backside of Growth
2019
Thread darned into found cloth
11 x 7.5 inches
Two Together (Oscillate)
2019
Thread darned into found cloth
9.25 x 14 inches

Altered is an on-going project between myself, my translator and Rafoo Masters in Northern India. The project touches on family life, assimilation, translation, mending and the hidden economy. All proceeds from the Altered Project return to Northern India as donations to prominent NGO’s.

 

The Altered Project began under the mentorship of artist Priya Ravish Mehra in 2013 in New Delhi, India. She invited me into her studio to respond to the idea of creating through Rafoo (darning). Using my paper inlay work as a starting place, I experimented with the implications of mending and recreating wholeness that darning evokes. The darned structure shapes allude to both physical and emotional shifts families experience as they grow.