Working collaboratively–and with materials like thread, ink, video, photography, and ceramics–Nirmal Raja’s investigations can be intimate, beautiful, and wrenching. An interdisciplinary artist and curator, she carves a brave and questioning path via a persistent and focused practice.

The artist calls upon a rich conceptual vocabulary to create work that has an expansive feel yet functions on an intimate scale. Whether embroidering with her mother, re-working clothing from family, or making castings of artifacts from travels and relocations, Raja connects and reformats, transforming objects and images so that the materials convey profound experiences. Embroidered fabric or the process of sewing pictured, medical imaging, pieces gathered from disparate communities, printing, video–these are called upon to probe feelings of displacement, the act of memory, and the aftereffects of historical omission and loss.

Her body of work encompasses a variety of approaches that consistently connect the intimate and personal with a consciously global existence. In her practice, Raja conducts experiments that delve into difficult emotional realms. Investigating personal, social, and political conflicts, her process seamlessly melds complex content with intriguing surfaces and materials to create beautiful and engaging works.

Thread connects random pieces of fabric, but it is also the very stuff that fabric is made from. Building on this metaphor, this exhibit pulls together works from Raja’s diverse production to understand how fabric and its structure can convey powerful emotional and intellectual matters. Including work from early in her career to her most recent endeavors, this will be the first exhibit to dive into Raja’s captivating studio process and her history of making multifaceted objects and installations.

Nirmal Raja: Asking Questions of a Thread is guest curated by Ann Sinfield for the James Watrous Gallery. Images courtesy of the artist.