Seventeenth International Conference on the Arts in Society

Abstract

This study focuses on an artwork in-progress which forms a part of my practice-led research. The artwork is composed of two lengths of jute rope which are merged with metal hairpins. This research deliberately utilises fibre and textile art processes to establish the significance of British South Asian contribution in shaping British history. Textiles and fibre have been instrumental in advancing British wealth and in how South Asian textiles are positioned. The research reconceptualizes the agency of these mediums and their modes of production by subverting their active role in colonial activities to translate embodied experiences of racial trauma and differencing in this diasporic population. Building upon second-wave feminist activist art practices this research reorientates the iterative processes linked to these mediums through disruptive, iterative actions to synthesize textiles with diverse quotidian materials. The research harnesses these actions as powerful tools to challenge colonial legacies that suppress marginalised perspectives and voices. Bringing together the textile language of contemporary fine art practice with performative durational works is highly significant as a space of agency. Crucial to this research is exposing the iterative nature of racial bias, articulating the progressive build-up of racial trauma, investigating the ramifications of everyday racism, and differencing on identity in this marginalised community. This research thinks with Audre Lorde and Luce Irigaray’s theories of difference to build a new theory of difference through a materially driven fine art practice.