Refugee Project — Panel 1: Carrying

This series is deeply personal. Both of my parents, along with members of my extended family, were displaced persons in the aftermath of World War II. Their experiences—carried through stories, silences, and fragments—form the conceptual foundation of this fibre art about displacement and memory.

These fibre art pieces are created using natural dyes, eco-printing, stitching, and photo transfer.

In Carrying, family images move across the surface, connected by a continuous stitched path. At the centre is a formal portrait of my mother in the early stages of her opera career—an artistic life that was never fully realized due to war and forced resettlement. Surrounding her are images of my grandparents with their young son, who did not survive, and of my aunt and cousin.

The stitched lines trace both the physical journeys of displacement and the migratory paths of the butterflies that move throughout the work. Butterflies—recurring in my practice—suggest transition, fragility, and the possibility of renewal.

The first three panels of the Refugee Project were developed during my residency in Kerala, India, in February 2026.

What is inherited is not fixed, but carried forward—threaded through generations, altered yet enduring.

The Refugee Project continues to evolve, with each panel adding another chapter to a textile narrative of migration, memory, identity, and belonging.