Gunjan Ahlawat

Tecnica: Textile art (collage and hand sowing in particular).

Anno: 2024

Dimensione: 44 x 48 cm

Descrizione:

My mother cannot read or write fluently in either Hindi or English. Due to her upbringing, she has often been described as “slow and messy” by those around her. Her unconventional ways of doing things, inability to conform to expected ideas of efficiency, and her unique intelligence in navigating life have often been misunderstood. As a wife and daughter-in-law, she struggled to fit into the idealised roles prescribed by society and was labelled imperfect when she could not.
As her son, I see these imperfections differently. Her struggles, disappointments, and vulnerabilities embody a form of wabi-sabi—the beauty found in impermanence, incompleteness, and imperfection. Her flaws are not shortcomings but qualities that make her uniquely herself.

For this project, I use fragments of my mother’s old saris as a metaphorical canvas for repair and renewal. Inspired by the traditional practice of kantha embroidery, where worn saris are layered and stitched into new forms, I transform damaged fabrics into a record of resilience.

The final reconstructed sari, created from vintage and torn pieces of her wardrobe, becomes a collage of memory, survival, and healing. Each stitch represents a step towards repair—not just of material, but of identity and emotional experience. This act of making becomes a collaboration between my mother and me: a way of honouring her imperfections and rewriting her narrative beyond the confines of patriarchy.