padaippakam
படைப்பகம்
a home for creation
kaaval 2022 air dry clay, and acrylic paint
a protective mask, this piece symbolizes the divine balance between feminine and masculine energy, water and fire. a ceremonial item for the protection of myself and my craft.
I draw inspiration from the kula deivams (land protectors) kulasegaram amman and karuppu saami, both from my ancestral home of tenkasi, tamil nadu.
photographed by nautica simone ‘23
oor pogum megankal
batik on cotton
2023
3 x 2 ft
the clouds that go home is a piece that was created for the queer tamil collective oor exibition 2023 marking the 40th memorial of the riots of 1983 black july in sri lanka. through a series of interviews with my mother, a survivor i created this piece as a prayer on hope.
my mother says “we are the tamil people living far from our mother on this land of ice and snow. we call upon the clouds as our messenger. our kisses sent through the clouds land on our mother’s cheeks. the stories she carries return to us as memories.” for those like me who’ve never really lived there, it is in these memories that we know home.
interview of my mother sivavathani prabaharan recounting the events of 1983
manal
35mm film photograph
2023
jaffna
barefoot
under the beating sun
scorched by the
red hot earth
three generations scream
- of laughter
as we race
to return
home
refuge(es)
shanmugadevi, 2022
5 batik samples, 4x6 inches
presented for the tamil archive project x scarborough arts
this series of work was co-created with the spirit of my ancestor, my late paternal grandmother shanmugadevi, through the elements of fire and water
my grandmother was a batik designer, garment worker, and artist. for many reasons including the war and displacement, many of her designs were lost.
in the revival of this craft, I got to know my ancestor.
these samples are my first attempt at teaching myself this practice
invocation
mixed media installation
2023
photographed by nautica simone ‘23
this piece was a site specific installation created for the sacred geometries and paralell portals show.
this piece features hand made adornments creating a site for invoking a prayer that brought together the lands that i come from, and the lands that i call home. a noteable part of this piece was bringing together the seashells from ocean on the jaffna coast as well as abalone shells, and the soil from my mother land as well as the soil from here.
the burdens of our choosing
35mm film, jaffna 2023
untitled mask, ceramics, 2024
ஃ therefore, therefore ஃ
batik and beadwork on cotton
2023 - 2025
this piece is a prayer on being. batik, and beadwork both sacred and inuative practices of convening with the divine. this piece is one of revival and relationship to land, body, and spirit.
created with the support of the cue grant, this piece was first shared in the ‘we have always been here, we will always be here’ group show guest curated by kikeyah alina at toutoune gallery.
photographs by chris kaputo
I had a dream that the world was ending. I knew I needed to bring together a very specific group of people in the waking world.
we were being called to connect with grief, our own and each others. we were being called to ally with the land and water to move what needed to be moved. folks didn’t know each other but we shared this grief and we shared a dream of connection.
we danced, we singed
we drank
shared food
At the foot of the bluffs, on the shore of the lake magic happened. As we have always done.
gallery of additional samples
batik panels, various sizes 4x6 inches - 11 x 11 inches
