My work explores ideas of genetic memory, preservation, cultural loss, physical displacement, and genocide. The Kashmiri Pandit Genocide of the 1990s, that my mother survived, is one of the most forceful yet least-known ethnic cleansings. By being forcibly separated from my ancestral home and assimilating into American culture, my art is an act of resistance and reconnection. I incorporate traditional Indian women’s textiles with an extensive cultural history and a memory shaped by previous wearers. This fabric has its own DNA signature.

 

I pursued a dual bachelors degree in Arts Practices and Molecular Biology because to me, they are intertwined. Science allows me to understand, and art allows me to express. My continued research, starting from my Bachelors degree in the Olwin Lab, focuses on neurodegenerative diseases and regeneration. During traumatic events, neurons break both strands of the DNA helix in multiple locations to provide access to memory storage genes. I consider the repercussions of trauma on the body and the effect on genetic memory. I use the theory of transgenerational epigenetic inheritance to visualize how my mother preserved and passed down handicraft techniques in her memory since she could not bring any physical heritage when she fled.

 

Through my art, I can visually understand the nature and extent of the psychological pain and intergenerational trauma in my body. It is given a physical form that highlights the beauty of my culture so I can acknowledge the pain.As an artist of the diaspora, I gather broken stories and sew them together to repair the breakage. There are parallels between the genetic process and working with the materials. The materials aren't just illustrative of a genetic process, they are the salve that attempts to repair genetic breaks and mutations, and bridge a severed generational link. I want to continue to preserve the people and their stories through materials and processes

 

Traditional scientific research focuses on empirical knowledge, and my work expands the notion of knowledge to include community knowledge. While traditional research focuses on evolving our knowledge, community knowledge is the collective knowledge preserved by the members of the Kashmiri community, such as crochet patterns, rug-making techniques, and fabric drapery. I am interested in preserving traditional Kashmiri motifs in the digital realm and regenerating them in my own language.