Mini Maps 2022

 

​

Mapping Thoughts and Emotions Through Stitch continues ..

​

Mini maps using Circles is an ongoing body of work that uses the language of stitch to map internal landscapes—charting thoughts, emotions, and sensory impressions as visual and tactile forms. Rooted in the meditative act of repetitive mark-making, this series explores the embroidered circle as a site of introspection, healing, and embodied presence. The circle—open yet complete—serves both as structure and symbol, holding space for inner movement and stillness to coexist.

​

The series is inspired by the philosophical notion of Rasa from Indian aesthetic theory, which speaks to the "essence" or "flavour" of an experience—something felt rather than explained. Rasa is not a static state; it is transient, sensory, intuitive. These stitched works aim to capture that liminal quality of emotion, the intangible atmosphere that lingers in the aftermath of experience.

In a time marked by uncertainty, overstimulation, and disposability, Circles offers a contemplative counterpoint—where slowness becomes resistance, and emotional nuance is preserved through touch and time.

​

Conceptual Framework

At the core of Circles lies a belief in the interiority of making—in the capacity of repetitive, embodied processes like stitching to record emotion, thought, and transformation. Each piece is not only a visual artifact but a temporal one: it holds the rhythm of breath, the pacing of memory, the subtle shifts in feeling that occur as the hand moves over cloth.

The works are small in scale, intimate in tone, and often monochrome or minimally coloured—inviting close attention. Some circles are dense with stitch, others sparse and quiet, revealing as much through absence as presence. They are not illustrative; rather, they evoke. They suggest states—of vulnerability, meditation, tension, grief, longing, clarity—without naming them.

This works does not aim to explain emotion, but to hold space for it, to allow viewers to slow down and enter a state of introspective attention.

​

​

Conclusion

Circles is both a visual diary and a philosophical offering. It invites viewers to witness the unspoken, to trace the contours of emotional life, and to consider the role of tenderness, repetition, and attention in the creative act. It is a body of work about memory, resilience, and the beauty of what unfolds when we attend, slowly and carefully, to what we feel.

Copyright © 2022