3rd Place Winner

Wildflowers in my grandmother’s garden were the only adornments I remember ever needing. That house has long been abandoned but the wilderness thrives in all its glory. Reclaim is an ode to the beauty and resilience of nature. It is a testament to my obsession with natural textures untouched by humans and thriving undisturbed in their own little ecosystems. Surfaces that are alive and ever-changing, are composed of interconnected life forms such as algae and lichens. To bring my idea to life, I have collaborated with indigenous vegan silk weavers who have carefully handwoven the base fabric and dyed it using natural dyes

The overall embroidery is a dégradé of materials in the background; sequin, stones and Lochrosens dégradé into cut beads, bugle beads, and silk fringes. I have married new-age materials (carefully handpicked from export house surplus) with age-old, traditional Indian embroidery techniques such as Aari, Zardozi, and Kantha. The entire piece has taken 850+ painstakingly meticulous hours of embroidery over 4 months. The overall conscious design process is integral to my personal and cultural ethos and is a homage to my grandmother who introduced me to needlework. Reclaim is a song about the beauty of creation in nature, manifested through mindful craft.