Howick Frames- TELLURIC

TELLURIC by Jessie Kanji

TELLURIC is a series of printed matter that explores cultural exchange, belonging, memory, and meaning. As a New Zealand-born artist of Gujarati Indian descent, Jessie Kanji’s work will speak to the layered experience of migration, adaptation and connections between old and new worlds, focusing on migrant stories of locals from East Auckland.

In a dialogue between heritage and place highlight’s identity, memory, and belonging, these prints draw inspiration from South Asian textile patterns - specifically, through fibre painting. The pulp paintings are made through eastern papermaking influenced by ancient textile patterns and hand-embroidery from the desert areas of Rajasthan, India.

Each work is made on handmade paper, created using sustainable and locally sourced fibres. By connecting materiality to place, these forms will reference the landscapes and organic forms of the Tāmaki Estuary, with the work acknowledging ecological interdependence and honoring traditional craft processes. The work invites viewers to consider how personal and collective histories are intertwined and tied to the place.

Jessie Kanji (born 1997) is a New Zealand artist of Indian descent. She primarily uses print as a method of thinking. In the amber-like qualities of ink, her work seeks to evoke rasa, a state of total absorption and aesthetic immersion.

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