My work focuses on the experience of looking and feeling within a space. I explore how colour, pattern, repetition, and arrangement can affect emotion, attention, and movement. Using layered forms and connected structures, the work reflects both calmness and visual overwhelm, inspired by contemporary visual culture as well as personal and cultural influences. Rather than giving one fixed meaning, I want the installation to create an experience where viewers can pause, observe, and respond to the work in their own way.
The work includes a traditional Indian saree and a pattern inspired by the traditional South Indian kolam, a hand-drawn geometric design associated with home, ritual, and daily practice.
Inherited Identity Under Tension
The pressure of preserving tradition perfectly → the struggle of negotiating that expectation and inner conflicts→ finding a personal version that is imperfect but authentic.
1. The Ideal
The folded saree and gold kolam pattern appear neat, controlled, and complete. Everything is carefully contained and presented as it should be. This reflects the idealised image of tradition – beautiful, ordered, and preserved through repetition, just like a beautiful illusion.
2. The Unravelling
As the threads move towards the centre, the structure begins to unravel. The pressure to maintain perfection becomes visible through fragmentation, knots, and loose connections. The work enters a space of questioning, negotiation, and change.
3. The Becoming
The final form is no longer rigid or perfectly ordered. The fabric hangs freely, and the kolam pattern appears in white rather than gold. Some lines do not meet exactly, yet the pattern remains recognisable. Rather than rejecting tradition, this section suggests a new relationship with it – one that allows flexibility, individuality, and growth. It is not perfect in the original sense, but it is complete in its own way.
The threads show continuity, that change happens gradually, and demonstrate how much has been carried forward and how much has transformed.
Gold kolam and thread – formal, idealised, complete
White kolam and thread – quieter, imperfect, personal
Tradition is often presented as something perfect and complete. Through fragmentation, tension, and reconstruction, the work explores how inherited traditions can evolve into personal forms that remain connected to their origins while allowing space for change.
Tradition is not abandoned, but carried forward in a different form.
BA (Hons) Fine Art - Canterbury 
Galliane Andreani Slee | Fine Art
