Aanchal Raisahib

My work documents experiences of acclimating to a foreign culture while remaining connected to one’s roots. The move from India to the US has been filled with varied emotions such as longing, uncertainty, and otherness. To navigate cultural displacement and a subsequent loss of identity, my work utilizes tactile interactions with materials that hold cultural and personal significance.

Familiarity of the material acts as an intimate connection amidst the chaos of displacement. Using this intimacy as a foundation, I build new narratives that talk about cultural identity, longing and nostalgia as a means to reclaim my identity. This process makes my personal experiences visible and participates in contemporary discourse by dismantling and re-constructing cultural narratives.

Portals: Re-weaving the Present

Deconstructed sarees, headscarves, jute, cotton thread, yarn, wooden hoop and steel hoop

Dimensions Variable

Through these portals, I re-imagine inherited cultural constructs; carefully deconstructing materials like sarees and headscarves and re-weaving them into new foundations. The material holds symbolism – the sarees are considered feminine, the headscarves masculine. By interlacing them I construct a foundation for change. Through clockwise and counterclockwise weaving, I vibrate between the past and future, to evaluate the present.

Patriarchy and misogyny were part of the experience of growing up in India. Distancing myself from that social landscape has allowed me to introspect some of the ideals I grew up with. The portals serve as a mechanism for reflection. They coax the viewer to look inside and question who they are at their core.

A Precarious Life

Basmati Rice, Satin

4 x 4 x 6.5 inches

This sculpture is an homage to the immigrant experience of the effort it takes to build a life. The ‘egg’ represents a future, a potential, but is also delicate and fragile. As an international student in the US, I am familiar with the experience of starting from scratch in a new country. It requires patience, persistence and discipline. However, at every stage, there is a looming uncertainty – be it administrative challenges or personal.

By covering the surface of the egg form with Basmati Rice, I hope to make it valuable and precious akin to my own dreams as an international student. Basmati Rice is representative of ‘value’ - It is considered a superior quality of rice because of the length of the grain. Culturally, it symbolizes prosperity and finds its uses in additional contexts such as rituals like weddings and prayers. Applying this symbolism with repetition, I embody the patience, resolve and fragility of the immigrant life.

Website

Instagram