22/12/2024
This piece ‘Miniature Gold’ is a screenprint about gold used in Indian and Mogul miniature paintings and how it has hidden symbolism in the portraiture.
For this ‘inspired’ V&A residency, I searched for a collection of museum items that closely related to my Final Major Project, which was the South Asian tradition of passing gold jewellery down to generations of women. I was drawn towards the collection of Indian miniatures and portraits in the South and South East Asia Collection.
After further research, I decided to explore how Indian miniatures had used gold to create symbolism in their narrative of the portrait. I investigated the significance of gold in South Asia, particularly its association with the inheritance of gold jewellery among women. My goal is to use the findings from both projects to showcase the symbolism of gold within South Asian communities and to understand its deep-rooted cultural significance of why gold is gifted affectionately to women.
