Artist Statement

     I work between two and three dimensional, creating installations that merge traditional Nepali weaving methods with contemporary western materiality. The weaving process is linked to my personal culture and is inspired by woven utilitarian mats that I learned how to make growing up in Nepal. Traditional Nepali mats are woven with agricultural waste products; I reflect contemporary western culture by weaving with non-traditional materials, such as discarded plastic bags, bed sheets, furniture, wax, and paper.

    Through my work I revisit the memories of my childhood, in which my mother wove mats as part of her livelihood. Weaving in my culture is mostly a woman’s job.  Nowadays, since Nepali women are allowed to work outside the home, weaving is done primarily by those women who are not educated.  In contrast, I am weaving mats with the same traditional techniques as part of my higher education.  Through my work I am introducing the art/craft/labor of those underprivileged women. 

    The flexible materials I use allow me to manipulate and shape my work like sculptor.  In presentation of my work I created distorted shapes which occur due to gravitational force.  These unorthodox shapes represent my experience pushing against the norms and boundaries of my native culture.  The weaving style, distorted forms, and blend of materials reflect my multicultural identity – how I shape it and how it is shaping me. Weaving reminds me of the struggle I experience in finding my identity. I am fully part of American culture now, but many of my values and memories are tied to my childhood in Nepal. Living in the U.S. has changed how I think, and at times it seems that I do not fit in my own eastern culture. My work reflects my new identity. I see myself in both cultures, woven together into a fabric of something new and different, yet somehow familiar.