The Nexus, 2021
Description :
The Nexus reflects my gradual process of cultural adaptation after moving from India to the United States. Each form combines sections derived from two familiar soap brands, Dettol from India and Dial from the United States, bringing two everyday cultural references into a single object. The changing internal cavities represent different stages of this transition: what begins as a narrow and uncomfortable relationship between the two forms gradually expands until their contours correspond. Soap normally changes shape through repeated use, adjusting itself to the hand while simultaneously being worn away. I use this ordinary process as a metaphor for adaptation, questioning how repeated exposure to a new environment gradually reshapes an individual. The final alignment suggests a growing sense of familiarity and belonging, while also acknowledging that becoming comfortable within a new culture requires alteration. The work considers adaptation not as an immediate transformation, but as a continuous negotiation between where one comes from and where one is learning to belong.
