“Dharti” signifies the earth and the body. My world makes a full circle from the time it started with the “atma” to the time it comes home.
This piece is made on a full, colorful “ghaghra”. The skirt belonged to my niece, so it contains and represents much of her love for life and dance. The yolk, the soul of the earth, in pinkish red, gives it its center. The truth spans out from there to its totality. The world is full of all colors and people who were made by God. In it is our good and our bad; we create and we destroy. There are however, forces of nature that are part of the Truth and those give us daily life and its beauty.
I used fabrics and craft items from the East and the West in this piece. The white string is called the “Naadu”. It is used to tie the “Ghagra” to the waist of an Indian lady. I incorporated it, because I want to think that it makes it possible to tie together my motherland and my world into “My Dharti”.
In this piece, I also focused on flowers and butterflies, which remind me of an English garden; things that we cannot seem to emulate with human science. They live a short life; they bud, they bloom, give life and then leave as quietly as they come – with no noise or destruction. They say nothing but give the largest gift of life and beauty. Within is all and all is within.
My journey started in the East and continues in the West. I strongly believe, however, that as life goes on, all integrate with each other to harmonize. The circle of life in the soul on this world has no beginning and no end – it is our “Dharti”, our Earth.
