Quiet Power: The Subtle Language of Presence

This series of sculptures examines the nuanced ways power is expressed—not through dominance or volume, but through restraint, presence, and the quiet assertion of identity. Across cultures and contexts, subtle gestures often speak loudest. In Click Clack, a marble shoe shaped like a tongue turns the sharp sound of a heel into a metaphor for authority, especially in Indian culture where such sounds signal confidence and social standing. The tongue, embedded in the form, reminds us of the power of a woman’s voice—audible or silent. Unified Knot ties together a bow tie and a woman’s hairstyle in a single elegant form, symbolizing balance, fluidity, and the seamless integration of gendered identities.

Father Tongue reflects on silence as a mode of strength, using the form of a pillow to symbolize the resting tongue and inherited wisdom of restraint. The Reticent, with a head wrapped and zipped, presents the intentional withholding of speech as a powerful act of self-possession. Other works extend this inquiry into the quieter registers of migration, aspiration, and identity: the emotional weight of arriving in a new country, the lessons inherited from home, and the aspirations that outpace one’s means, as in the child’s attempt to fill his father’s shoes. These pieces together explore how identity and influence are often carried not by loud proclamations, but by the careful, deliberate acts of those who move through the world with quiet conviction.