Tool(s): InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator,
Guided by: Glen Cummings
Living away from home prompted me to confront the Indian identity, its associated stereotypes, and the problematic portrayal, depiction and representation of Indians through identifiers in the media and fashion i.e. through Indian textiles. Through this project, I attempted to reclaim “Orientalist” narratives surrounding the Indian identity through the lens of Indian textiles.
This premise led to multiple avenues of 'making'. Some of the making involved pulling from existing visual research to build arguments. Another aspect involved using existing material to create visuals that conveyed the larger argument.
Of these, a project involving e-commerce products was extremely successful from an activation standpoint. These products were named as costumes and their searchability was maximised to accommodate multiple ethnicities or at times reinforce stereotypes about these ethnicities. By arranging a few of these in a pattern, I was able to 'mock' the mocking with multiple fabric swatches.
Another project that was successful were individual posters/graphics that served as visual commentary or cues or as separators for topics within a chapter. Some of these graphics were created before the project had begun — but they were incorporated as they fitted well within the larger narrative.
The project was then converted into a publication which acted as a compilation of all the visual projects and the primary & secondary research.
