Firangi Rang Barangi

2009. Pyaari (Firangi Rang Barangi series). Acrylic, ink and pencil on paper, 25 in x 50 in./// SOLD

2009. Jaan (Firangi Rang Barangi series). Acrylic, ink and pencil on paper, 18 in x 50 in. /// SOLD

2009. Sahiba (Firangi Rang Barangi series). Acrylic, ink and pencil on paper, 24 in x 49 in. /// SOLD

2009. Rani (Firangi Rang Barangi series). Acrylic, ink and pencil on paper, 21 in x 50 in. /// SOLD

2009. Maya (Firangi Rang Barangi series). Acrylic, ink and pencil on paper, 30 in x 50 in. /// SOLD

Firangi Rang Barangi is the name of a series of paintings that celebrate the bold, unapologetic and creative personal style of people who cross vast
cultural borders. "Firangi Rang Barangi" is Hindi for "colourful foriegner" and speaks to the perpetual sense of "otherness" or "outsiderness" that
marks immigrant and diasporic communities.

Part of the inspiration for the work comes from my own desire to see South Asian names represented on jewellery and art in a western context. Growing
up in Toronto, I remember going to the mall as a child and always looking for the keychain or ring with my name on it but never finding it. This work respond
to that experience of invisibility and to the experience of being a woman of Indian origin growing up in the west, struggling to express my many identities.

I was born in New Delhi, but came to Toronto at age two. Although I spent most of my life growing up in Toronto, I used to go back to India to visit my
grandparents every year or two years for about three months. This and having lots of family in India that I am close to kept me very tied to India. I still go
back every two years or so. I have always felt like I live in two places because when I am there, I feel at home and when I am here, I feel at home. And yet,
I can't really explain one place to the other, i.e., the only place where I feel truly whole is in my imagination where both places are seamlessly stitched together.

This work references fashion, clothing, ornamentation and style from a range of different sources to produce an identity that is fresh and unique, yet
deeply rooted in that diasporic, transnational experience.

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