This circular artwork traces the quiet choreography between human touch and the living fibre that once moved through wind, rain, and pasture. The floating forms recall unspooled wool or drifting clouds of breath in cold air, while the outlined hands reach inward as if feeling for a memory held in the dark. In a world that impatiently smooths and standardizes everything it touches, the raw, looping strands become a symbol of what resists straightening—the irregular landscapes, labouring bodies, and ancestral skills that keep finding their own paths.

The bangled wrists suggest everyday workers and caregivers, whose gestures rarely enter gallery spaces but silently hold up entire worlds. This piece is a contemporary offering to slowness and tactility, a reminder that making is also a form of listening. It asks the viewer to pause, trace the lines with their eyes, and imagine the stories carried in each curve of fibre. In doing so, it invites a renewed respect for the hands, materials, and tangled journeys that sit behind the objects we so easily take for granted.

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My practice is rooted in the soil of the Deccan plateau, working with the raw, earthy wool of native Deccani sheep. Through wet and needle felting, I translate personal visions and

fleeting emotions into tactile forms. My forest-side studio shapes both material and mood; the changing seasons—from harsh summers to the rhythm of monsoons—influence the textures, colours, and narratives I create. A defining aspect of my work is the 52 natural colour palette that emerges organically from the sheep, their wool shifting subtly with grazing seasons, vegetation, and climate.

My practice is also a dialogue with the environment, informed by found objects and quiet stories encountered during daily walks. Central to my ethos is a deep, collaborative relationship with the Kuruba shepherd community, especially the women, whose indigenous knowledge continually enriches my approach. Journeys with nomadic tribes further shape my sensibilities, allowing landscapes, foods, winds, sounds, and dialects to flow into the very foundation of my art.

For me, Sonder is fundamentally embodied in the act of weaving. The communities I engage with are masters of the loom, creating intricate Kambalis (blankets). The profound essence of Sonder resides in the threads themselves: fibers sourced from distant places and manually brought together. This entire process—from retrieving raw wool from unseen villages, through rhythmic hand-spinning, to weaving it into cohesive form—reflects the interconnected human experience.

My artistic practice is a contemporary extension of this belief. By working with this wool, I consciously acknowledge the countless unseen journeys and hidden stories of Kuruba

shepherd women and nomadic tribes. My final felted works become tactile representations of these interwoven lives, bridging tradition with the present. They invite viewers to pause and recognize the complexity held within every thread—each strand carrying a distinct, irreplaceable universe of human experience, labor, and connection.