Ode to My Mother’s Needles Sunroop KaurCalgary, AB Size 10" x 8" Medium Embroidery thread, stretched raw canvas, unframed My works exist at various intersections and investigate the tactile quality of embroidery. Lapis Lazuli is a gemstone/mineral pigment historically mined in Afghanistan since the 7th millennium and is used to make ultramarine blue. With references to Eastern and Western art conventions, the series alludes to the gendered art politics surrounding textile art and the rich textile history of Punjab and Phulkari work. The bottom row features monochromatic blue spaces, with one piece having a cut-out—that functions as an elegant yet violent entry into the series. Through interdisciplinary methodologies, I explore blue as an art/conceptual material. Ode to My Mother’s Needles Sunroop KaurCalgary, AB About the artist About the artist Sunroop KaurCalgary, AB Sunroop Kaur holds a BFA in Visual Arts from Emily Carr University of Art + Design (2019). Kaur is an interdisciplinary artist working in between Vancouver and Central Valley, California. Her practice employs Eastern and Western iconography to decontextualize cultural materials and create new spaces to reclaim/subvert South Asian narratives. The synthesis of critical spaces allows for generative dialogue within the Punjabi Sikh Diaspora while counteracting legacies of colonial violence. Kaur has worked on several notable site-specific commissions, including a mural project titled Basant (Spring) for the State of California’s “Your Actions Save Lives” campaign in Stockton (2021), “Immaterial Triad” public art installation, Cedar Street Gallery, Berkeley (2021); “Platforms 2020: Public Works” public art campaign; and a collaborative mural project “Taike-Sye’yə” for Vancouver Mural Festival, which centered around the Komagata Maru Episode, Vancouver (2019). Kaur is the recipient of ARTogether’s artist grant award (2021). Follow on social