FOR LAXMI

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Developed during the Tracing Blue residency at Hampi Art Labs, For Laxmi emerged through repeated visits to Virupaksha Temple and time spent with Laxmi, the temple elephant, and the mahout family who care for her each day.

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Watching the daily routines of bathing, feeding, dressing and walking gradually shifted my attention. While many visitors come to receive Laxmi's blessing, I became interested in the quiet gestures of care that make those encounters possible.

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A ceremonial head mantle and indigo-dyed textile were developed in collaboration with Lambani artisans and the mahout family. Lambani embroidery was chosen because it remains a living craft tradition of the Hampi region, allowing the textile to emerge through local knowledge rather than introducing an external visual language. Mirror fragments and seashells extend this tradition through materials that continue to be part of its making.

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Naturally fermented indigo was chosen because it begins as a cultivated plant before it becomes a colour. Returning it to a ceremonial textile reconnects the material with the agricultural landscape that surrounds Hampi and with the living relationships between cultivation, craft and ritual.

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Rather than introducing a new ritual, the work accompanies an existing one. It records an encounter between the mahout family, Lambani artisans and naturally fermented indigo, recognising not only the blessing Laxmi offers, but also the care she herself receives.