The Brahmin Folds refers to the term Boston Brahmin, the New England upper classes that painters like John Singer Sargent painted and belonged to, borrowing the term from the Hindu caste system.

The works emerged from an initial attraction to drapery studies, or how fabric folds in both Sargent's portraits of society's well to do and a focus on the drapery in gowns contrasted with the drapy of sarongs found in Southeast and South Asian royalty.

The study involved the reconstruction of both types of attire but constructed sculpturally out of butcher paper and later the drawings based on the paper sculptures. The final display is of the paper models and drawings together.

The Brahmin Folds (2019)
Sargent’s Cape & the King’s Sarong
Charcoal & Chalk on Butcher Paper
92 x 183 cm each

The Brahmin Folds (2019)
Sargent’s Cape & the King’s Sarong
Sculpture Studies
Butcher paper and staples
Dimensions Variable