Bless This House – New York
The kolam is a spiritual art form from South India, characterized by geometric designs created on the threshold of a house. It serves as a meditative device, akin to the mandala. My first encounter with the kolam was in 2004 in Tamil Nadu, India, leaving an indelible impression on me. During this trip, I experienced countless acts of kindness from strangers—offers of snacks on trains, invitations for tea, and concern for my wellbeing as a solo female traveler. I made friends with a variety of people from around the world, broadening my worldview and enriching my mind. I also learned to appreciate every little thing about my life in New York that I had taken for granted. This made me more humble and patient.
In India, women create kolams daily, typically during sunrise and sunset, marking day thresholds as prayers for safe transitions. These women act as spiritual guardians of their families, with the drawings meant to bless the home, honor deities, and ward off evil spirits. The kolam-making ritual fosters a profound connection with family, society, the spiritual realm, and oneself.
I began my project, Bless This House in January 2023, spending three months in Tamil Nadu learning about the kolam. I reinterpreted the kolam process in my life, creating artwork presented in Spring and Summer 2023. I returned to Tamil Nadu in December 2023 to continue this work, presenting further kolam-based artwork in Spring 2024. These trips were made possible by The New School Student Research Award and Parsons Graduate Student Research Fund.
During my fieldwork in India, I produced photographic and video documentation of women and girls creating kolams, resulting in portraits of kolam artists who are the custodians of this vital tradition, matrilineally passing it down through generations. I conducted interviews with kolam practitioners and teachers and initiated my own learning of this art form.
Following research, documentation, and immersion, I incorporated the kolam-making practice into my life and reinterpreted it to make it significant in my local context, specifically in New York City, giving rise to Bless This House – New York. I made kolams in front of locations that hold personal significance to me, where I hoped to see healing take place and blessings bestowed. I made kolams at a domestic violence awareness organization where I taught trauma-informed yoga, a mental health organization where I worked as a counselor, and at a drug rehabilitation center where my friend received services. The kolam-making events were documented on video and presented as a blend of durational performance and community-engaged art.
Below is a two-channel video of my kolam-making in New York City and at my studio. By introducing kolam to the urban American environment, I was exploring how this ancient art form interacts with its new surroundings and how those unfamiliar with kolam perceive it.
The delicate vellum paper with pastel drawings, raised off the wall, represents ephemerality while allowing viewers to contemplate various forms of kolam and reach a meditative state.
The physical presence of the kolam on the studio floor served to imbue my workspace with a spiritual essence and offered viewers the opportunity to actively engage in its dismantling, enabling them to directly experience the transient nature of life. I aimed to offer viewers a profound sensory and spiritual encounter with my work, transcending mere intellectual engagement and resonating within their bodies and souls.
The second video is a documentation of the kolam dismantling ceremony.
