Surabhi Sahgal - Memory of a Lost Garden

Artist: 
Materials: copper, Raat-Rani flowers, ferns, artificial eyelashes, glass lightbulb
Size: 6
Dimensions: 65mm, 20mm

Artist Statement:
'Memory of a lost Garden’ was conceived as a two-part series of rings while in lockdown, away from home. The series is a visual and tactile representation of 2 states of mind: the piercing memory of a garden I could not wait to return to, and its complementary ‘Bloom Season’, representing the warmth and sparkle of long-awaited family reunion.
Raat-Rani (or night-queen) is a species of tiny, fragrant flowers blooming at night during fall season in India. Planted above the entrance gate of our Chandigarh home, the fragrant bush showers its blossoms upon entry and exit. Over time, the smell has become symbolic of exciting beginnings, new adventures, as well as the comfort of returning to family and home.
The work utilizes the chromatic life cycle of copper in capturing my feelings of vulnerability, fragility and longing, evolving over time into a symbol of personal growth and maturity, having endured the complex uncertainties posed by the global pandemic.

Artist Bio:
I am a designer-maker transitioning from architectural practice towards narrative objects and jewellery. My work attempts to utilize the language of materials and processes to express my thoughts, dreams and imagined unrealities.
My electroformed copper pieces emphasize the dichotomies of growth and decay, utilizing the chromatic life cycle of copper. I enjoy superimposing the speculative nature of copper growth with the conformist aesthetics of architectural forms and identifiable everyday objects, in challenging my own, as well as the viewer’s aesthetic sensibilities. The vocabulary of these real and ‘unreal’ forms, finishes and textures, inspires the materialization of abstract ideas and imagined landscapes scaled to sit on the body.

This ring ships from outside of the United States and delivery may take up to 2 weeks. There is a $40 international shipping fee for this ring. 

This ring is part of Battle of the Rings: Ring Smackdown 2021, an online exhibition and competition. Shop the entire collection HERE, view the matches HERE, and learn more HERE.