نیا وراثت | New Heirloom

“My understanding of a sari is a garment loaded with connotations about an Indian woman’s status and the expectations placed on her by her family, culture, and society. Finely crafted saris and other garments can become heirlooms, passed down to daughters and subsequent generations. In New Heirloom, I explore themes of gender, family, what we inherit, and societal expectations. I question how my own life might still hold room for these themes and my ancestral traditions, despite not having reached the same milestones as my mother or her mother. I create space in my own history for saris that are embedded, not with age and generational meaning, but with my own hand and origins.

In the design of each sari, I chose plants from both Hyderabad, my parents’ city of origin and my ancestral home, and Minnesota, my birthplace and immersed environment. Gulmohar and early meadow rue; golden shower tree and coneflower; lotus and giant blue hyssop; geranium and aster; custard apple and lungwort; maidenhair fern and sapodilla. Combining these plants visually in a sari makes each piece a work of fiction; plants that would not grow together in the natural world are now inherent to these newly created “spaces.” The scale of each sari—approximately 18 feet long and 5 feet high—and their combined installation creates an immersive experience for the viewer. Stylistically, I drew from traditional Indian motifs, abstracting natural elements to create pieces that are graphic, illustrative, and visually cohesive. Together, each of these pieces twists and drape around each other as part of a collection of self-appointed, New Heirlooms”

-Meher Khan