Sikh 1984 exhibit

My piece Udasi is part of the Displacement exhibit at the that runs now until November. There is not enough Sikh art about 1984 and about our people’s unique struggle and only a handful of women creating Sikh art with representation in galleries. Udasi has a dual meaning in Punjabi and in Sikhi.
Udasi not only means journey, but it also
translates to the word sadness. For the subject of
immigration, in many ways, it could not be more
beautifully and truthfully put. Udasi. The feeling of
leaving your family and friends behind. The feeling
of leaving your home, the streets that you grew up
on, the food from the corner cart you got every day, leaving behind your school, your clothes, your
childhood notebooks. Then eventually the Udasi that comes from leaving your culture behind, slowly forgetting words you once spoke so fluently but now have no one to practice with in a new foreign nation where you are viewed as the foreign one.
In many ways, any immigrant goes through an
Udasi in both senses of the term. The journey is sad in its very essence of leaving behind what lands and languages and loved ones created you and trying to find your footing in a new, strange place. This piece means so much to me and was my first ever 3D sculpture piece, otherwise I am predominantly a video artist and filmmaker. I am so thankful that Flor Delgadillo (the incredible curator) pushed me to make this piece and try something totally new to me. Forever grateful to those creating spaces for minorities in art