Shravani Bagawde
Dhanya
Class of: 2024
Major: Communication Design BFA
Medium: Fabric, biomaterials (a combination of multiple media)
Faculty: Beau Rhee
Prompt: We were to brainstorm, prototype, develop, and create an Independent Final Project. This project was meant to give us time to reflect on what we had learned so far in this course, identify what had spoken most deeply to us, and was a space for us to apply and create.
For my final Sustainable Systems project, I created a product line that expanded upon previous biomaterial explorations. My collection is named Dhanya, which means blessed in several Indian languages, and is also homophonic to the word for grains and seeds. After experimenting with starch composites and natural dyes, I realized that I enjoyed the tactile process that allowed me to use various waste products from my cooking. I decided to create different kitchen products using these materials and techniques, and holistically view the process of food and nourishment. Moreover, I wanted to develop this project while considering my own ethnographic roots, in order to add a personal dimension. To do so, I modeled various objects after the South Asian practices of making ‘rangolis’ and ‘mandalas’.