Jhoomar
My jhoomar (chandelier) is a depiction of a few chandeliers I saw on a trip to the Chowmahalla Palace in Hyderabad. If you’re corny and into Christopher Nolan I guess you could call it jhoomar-ception, in other words it’s a chandelier of chandeliers. Usually when I visit India I don’t get to travel or sightsee much, which is why this palace was so special to me. It was the first time I got to see where I come from outside of the context of my family. Most of my physical exploration of India is limited to people watching the gullies from a terrace.
The Chowmahalla Palace was a home for the Nizams of Hyderabad during their reign (1724-1948). Today the palace guides tours of the grounds and holds artifacts from the Nizam era.
The blue panels are made of dyed cotton and screen printing. They're pinched together with jump rings and payal. The structure is made up of a wooden frame covered in silver foil, more jump rings, and ribbons. A LOT of trial and error went into this piece, it was my first time working with many of these materials and processes! Like printing transparencies, dying and screen printing onto fabric, and working in a studio nearby.
