Harpreet Kaur Sandhu ( Harpereet Sandhu)

Historically, tapestries came to be protected by the very definition of how it was made. When the machine came into the picture, the British raced to legislate the sanctity of the hand-woven trade. Could this have saved the craft or caused it to become obsolete in a market of economies of scale?

In our present day state of hyper-capitalism, where it is clear our systems to legislate and protect against monopolies and oligopolies to decimate craft, small businesses and fair trade, we are presented with an opportunity to push back a little.

In learning how to loom a tapestry there is a power that one takes from the structural hyper-capitalist. My theory is that if humans dare to take back industry that is entirely monopolies and oligopolies would be for the betterment of society. The independence of mom and pops, the revitalisation of neighbourhoods outside cities that are protected by their own community. Taking away power from huge factories that exploit and or do not support the dignity of a human being.

Work and craft should not only re-emerge for the soul of a civilisation but for the betterment of the environment. To alter one’s behaviour on the small scale is far speedier than expecting huge monopolies protected by patents acquired through exploitation, theft or the failure of legislations to keep up with the fast-moving markets, ie, taking plastics out of every aspect of production – from wrapping to filling. There are alternatives that already exist. Large monopolies do not take this on because they have already invested on automation that ONLY deal with these materials. This tapestry will kill fascists is wish that people will start to awaken to the ideas that we can create and be self-sufficient without needing and wanting to consume so much regardless of how cheap it is.

Painted cardboard on hand-dyed cotton loomed tapestry, titled An Ode to Lewis Fry Richardson, embedded with metal, beads and random armoury.

A study on pedagogical approaches that have not historically changed since the conditions of education was first democratically opened up to People that weren't aristocrats. Lewis Fry Richardson was an English pacifist and Quaker mathematician who tried to measure every border in the world in hopes to come see if there was a correlation to it's borders and the probability of war. He stumbled up the basis for Mandelbrot to establish the foundation of mathematical fractals. The tapestry is based on the landscapes of immeasurable quality of the time.

Quilt made in the style of the Gee Bend tradition. I did not use a sewing machine, nor a set pattern but instead created what I call the 'confetti' stitch to bind the collage of silk words to the backing and the back.

The individual silk pieces have names or a text akin to tropes the patriarchy label women to diminish their power within the program or of patriarchy or when one tries to establish or go against that power.

A collection of collected furnishing silk fabric from my mother’s old shop where she used to work and no one ever thought she was the boss because she was tiny and did everything that needed to be done without a care of hierarchy.

Kahu is a Māori word that often describes the relationship between pet and keeper. They refer to their dogs, cats and any animal they have bonded with as being their Kahu. Kahu means many things, amongst them guardian, friend, nurturer. Here is an image of a group of matriarchs with their progeny overlooking the worlds that some are inhabited by us, humans. They are our Kahu’s for in the world of indigenous decolonized cultures, all is living, including the land, the stones, the water. The matriarch look over the land, the water and humans do not stand above any of these living beings. Which is why the view finders as sacred objects are important to the piece. The direct the viewers eye to every aspect that is important.

An installation with Papel de Picado as view finders, traditionally used to celebrate key moments in modern Mexico. It’s origins are multi- ethnic and multi-cultural. In Judaic holiday of Shavout, they are cut and hung to celebrate the gift of the Torah. In Ancient Aztec culture in the regions known as Mexico today, Shamans used to use Papel de Picado cut with obsidian knives as personal, sacred and ceremonial objects to heal or ward off evil and other ailments or sacred duties of for the Gods. Kahu of Our Galaxies: A Group of Feminine Energetic bodies in a state of meditative rest with their progeny, dogs.

A contemporary play on mythology with key play on specific iconography and words.

The symbolism of a newspaper's information dissemination, the ever changing world of convenience on the price of bodies unseen in the form of brown packing paper so prolifically used by amazon.

The word 'oriental' is often only used to describe carpets but in the united kingdom there are food courts called Oriental kitchens. A very unusual sight for me. To create a tassel edged collage painting was to directly refer that term.

Sacred objects of sentimentality as a play on the structure of institutional religions and their objects. A hand sewn book, within which are hand embroided doodles and lyrics from popular culture songs and other random takes on the world as seen by me ( as performed as teenager.)