Suchitra Mattai: Myth from Matter

Suchitra Mattai (b. 1973, Georgetown, Guyana) weaves material into narrative. In her art, she uses richly colored textiles and meaningful found objects to reclaim and expand histories.  

Mattai explores personal stories, collective mythology and folklore, and colonial history. The artist’s ancestral roots lie in India, via forebears who migrated as indentured laborers to Guyana. Her installations incorporate colorful thread, imagery, vintage saris, and beads that connect people from the Indo-Caribbean diaspora. In many tapestries and paintings, she stitches or paints over colonial-era motifs in order to re-insert women of color into histories from which they were excluded. Mattai’s art pictures a utopian, equitable world, offering a new set of narratives and characters to replace the old. 

This exhibition presents, for the first time, Mattai’s art alongside select historical objects with roots in European and South Asian cultures. Recontextualized among the artist’s contemporary works, these prints, paintings, sculptures, and textiles from the eighteenth through twentieth centuries illustrate artistic traditions that inspire and provoke Mattai.  

Reconciling old and new, Mattai’s work interrogates other binaries, such as history and mythology, art and craft, and global East and West. She begins to create new mythologies that reframe colonial histories, fusing meaning and technique in narratives that center women and people of color.  

This gallery label guide is ordered presuming you enter the second floor from the passenger elevators and make your way to the left side of the exhibition. 

Suchitra Mattai 

b. 1973, Georgetown, Guyana

a cosmic awakening, 2023 

Vintage saris, fabric, tinsel, beaded fringe, and tassels; Courtesy of the artist and Roberts Projects, Los Angeles

To create these massive tapestries, Mattai uses a process that she calls “sari weaving.” Building from her training in mathematics and painting, Mattai developed a grid system on rope netting. She cuts saris into strips, carefully knots them, and uses her hand as a needle to weave them in and out of the net. She applies principles of two-dimensional composition, selecting saris for their color, pattern, and texture. In a cosmic awakening, vibrant reds and pinks transition into swirling blues, purples, and greens in an otherworldly tableau. 

a yakshi trance II, 2024

Plaster-and-salt casts of an antique Indian yakshi figure; Courtesy of the artist and Roberts Projects, Los Angeles

Yakshis are female nature spirits that embody fertility and prosperity in Hinduism. Often depicted with trees, flowers, and snakes, they represent an exchange of energy between the earth and humanity. In early Indian art, figures of yakshis were used as architectural elements, adorning posts or bracketing railings. Mattai cast these figurines from plaster and salt, a memorial to the saltwater that shaped her family’s journey across oceans from India to the Caribbean. 

the awakening, 2023

Vintage saris, embroidery floss, vintage needlepoint, appliqué, beads, cord, and beaded trim; Gochman Family Collection 

In the awakening, Mattai combines a variety of materials and techniques that connect her to her forebears. One of the artist’s grandmothers was a professional seamstress; the other made her own clothes, a common practice in Guyana. From them, she learned how to sew, crochet, embroider, and weave. “My grandmothers are everything to me. I’ve learned so much from them,” Mattai says.

she arose (from a pool of tears), 2024

Worn saris and armature; Courtesy of the artist and Roberts Projects, Los Angeles 

In the awakening, Mattai combines a variety of materials and techniques that connect her to her forebears. One of the artist’s grandmothers was a professional seamstress; the other made her own clothes, a common practice in Guyana. From them, she learned how to sew, crochet, embroider, and weave. “My grandmothers are everything to me. I’ve learned so much from them,” Mattai says.

Nicolas Delaunay (after Jean Honoré Fragonard and Pierre-Philippe Choffard)  

b. 1739, Paris; d. 1792, Paris

Les Hazards heureux de l’Escarpolettes (The Swing), probably 1782

Etching and engraving on laid paper; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Widener Collection, 1942.9.2315 

Delaunay’s engraving reproduces, in reverse, Fragonard’s famous painting of the same title. The Swing embodies the luxury and indulgence of the eighteenth-century Rococo style. The print captures all the frivolity of the original; in this version, an extravagant plume billows from the swinging woman’s hat. Delaunay also created engravings of Fragonard’s La bonne mère (1779), Les beignets (around 1782) and Dites donc s’il vous plaît (probably 1782). The dedication to Fragonard at the base of the image indicates that the other artist knew of and supported this project. 

Suchitra Mattai 

b. 1973, Georgetown, Guyana

silent retreat, 2023

Embroidery floss, artist’s mother’s sari, beads, faux pearls, and trim on found tapestry; Private collection; Courtesy of K Contemporary, Denver 

Mattai’s new folklore reveals layers of material and history. Here, her interventions transform a classic European pastoral motif—a shepherdess with her flock—with hints of other lands, cultures, and stories. Mattai darkens the skin of both figures and adds fragments of her mother’s sari. Outlined in blue beads, the patterned fabric appears in the lower corners of the frame, where the tapestry peels away like wallpaper. Beneath this bucolic scene is an understory, one that unearths the presence of Mattai’s own ancestors and others in diasporic communities.

the tree of life, 2021–24 

Bindis, embroidery floss, sari trim, beads, appliqué, and antique tapestry; Courtesy of the artist and Roberts Projects, Los Angeles 

Mattai sources vintage tapestries for her works from thrift stores, antique shops, and eBay. Seeking to add to existing designs rather than obscure them, she considers her interventions to be collaborations with the textiles’ original makers, whose names are now unknown. There is a balance in Mattai’s work between concealing and revealing. Here, she draws attention to the woman’s face with vibrant rays of thread. While Mattai’s contemporary materials and bright color palette are visually distinct from those of the original maker, the two are united by labor and handwork. Each uses time-intensive needlework techniques, passed down through generations.

future perfect, 2023

Embroidery floss, found objects, freshwater pearls, and trim on vintage needlepoint; Collection of Julie and Bennett Roberts, Los Angeles; Courtesy of Roberts Projects 

future perfect reimagines Jean Honoré Fragonard’s Young Girl Reading (ca. 1769) atop a vintage mass-produced needlepoint reproduction of the famous painting. Mattai embroidered over the central figure’s skin with darker thread, depicting a person of color as heroine. The subject’s yellow dress was a costume, part of Fragonard’s “fantasy” series. Mattai elaborates on this tradition with ornate elements such as a beaded headdress and tassel. Just as in Fragonard’s painting, the subject is at leisure, absorbed by her book. On the open page, Mattai writes “future” in beaded pearls, placing this young girl’s destiny in her own hands. 

Jean Honoré Fragonard

b. 1732, Grasse, France; d. 1806, Paris

Young Girl Reading, ca. 1769

Oil on canvas; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Gift of Mrs. Mellon Bruce in memory of her father, Andrew W. Mellon, 1961.16.1 

Young Girl Reading is one of Fragonard’s “fantasy portraits,” a series in which he dressed friends and patrons in elaborate costumes. The sitter in this painting originally faced the viewer, but Fragonard later repainted her to be absorbed in her reading. Even in costume, there are clues to the subject’s class standing, including her evident literacy. Fragonard has rendered her book’s text illegible, leaving it to the viewer to imagine what might capture her attention so closely. 

Suchitra Mattai 

b. 1973, Georgetown, Guyana

she heard their song, 2024

Embroidery floss, beads, found vintage belt, and trim on found needlepoint; Courtesy of John Friedman/Easton Capital Collection 

castaways, 2023

Vintage saris, cord, and embroidery floss on vintage needlepoint; Crocker Art Museum purchase with funds provided by Simon K. Chiu, 2023.94.1 

silver linings, 2020

Embroidery floss and trim on toile fabric; Private collection 

A red-and-white toile de Jouy fabric, patterned with a common pastoral motif, forms the backdrop of this work. It depicts figures who participate in recreational or household activities such as fishing and washing. Atop the material, Mattai crafts a new narrative, centering a single woman’s image using embroidery and gold trim. Colorful lines of thread emanate from her eyes, mirroring those from a dark cloud above her head. Despite the gloomy weather, the work’s title hints at an optimistic outlook.

muddled thoughts with exuberance on the side, 2023 

Gouache, 19th-century prints, faux gems, and wallpaper; On loan from Eliza Beckerman-Lee 

the garden, 2022

Page from The Grammar of Ornament, gouache, thread, embroidery floss, and bindis on paper; Beckerman-Lee Collection 

Unidentified artist

Dates unknown, United States

Untitled (Whole-cloth), ca. 1795–1800 

Cotton; Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Patricia S. Smith 

This cloth is an example of toile de Jouy, a simple, light-colored woven fabric (usually cotton or linen) featuring a contrasting pattern of pastoral scenes. Named after Jouy-en-Josas, the city in France where it was first manufactured, the fabric was exported to the United States after the American Revolution and grew popular for home décor and other uses. Vignettes of bucolic country life are a common motif, as are images inspired by mythology and literature. While toile de Jouy was first produced by Christophe-Philippe Oberkampf, a French-German industrialist, he used sophisticated block-printing and dyeing techniques frequently employed by textile makers in India. 

Suchitra Mattai 

b. 1973, Georgetown, Guyana

bear witness, 2019

Vintage saris, wire, found frame, and AstroTurf; Courtesy of the artist and Roberts Projects, Los Angeles 

through the forest, across the sea, and back home again, 2021

Vintage saris and fabric; Courtesy of the artist and Roberts Projects, Los Angeles

Woven from vintage saris, this abstracted landscape illustrates the journey that people in diasporic communities undertake to leave and return to their home countries. Warm hues of red, pink, orange, and brown border the top and bottom of the tapestry—colors prominent in the cultures of both India, where the artist’s ancestors originated, and the Caribbean, where they lived for many years. Saturated blues and greens represent the forests and seas traversed to reach a destination. Gold lines run vertically through the composition, tracing the pattern of migration that shaped Mattai’s cultural and geographic heritage.

held still (in a silent echo), 2021

Embroidery floss, mixed media, and appliqué on vintage tapestry; Courtesy of the artist and Roberts Projects, Los Angeles

Mattai combines materials and references to build new stories on found tapestries. Here, she inserts a human presence—a woman with brown skin riding a white steed—into a vintage landscape. With neon thread, appliqué, pearls, and chains, Mattai disrupts the serenity of the original hillside scene. Contrasting patches reference contemporary culture: emojis, makeup, fast food, and cocktails. Carefully placed embroidery hoops hold fabric taut, emphasizing the labor of stitching; they also act as lenses, bringing parts of the composition into focus and revealing additional layers. 

Auguste Rodin

b. 1840, Paris; d. 1917, Meudon, France

Memorial Relief (Hand of a Child), 1908 

Marble; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Gift of Elizabeth Merrill Furness, 1982.6.1 

Suchitra Mattai 

b. 1973, Georgetown, Guyana

In the absence of power. In the presence of love., 2023 

Vintage saris, embroidery floss, and beads on antique tapestry; Collection of Julie and Bennett Roberts, Los Angeles; Courtesy of Roberts Projects 

“I wanted to create a space where we could imagine a world without hierarchies, colonialism, and patriarchy,” Mattai says. The artist alters a tapestry depicting the adoration of Christ, transforming the scene’s religious implications and obscuring with colored thread the faces of all but the lowermost figure. Atop her image, the artist adds sparkling pink beads and a scrap of vintage sari. The resulting work, now centered on women and a child, reveals a glimpse of a society led by love. Here, Mattai proposes a future that is equitable and open-hearted. 

re-union, 2023 

Vintage saris and found mannequins; Collection of Beth Rudin DeWoody 

the weight of silence, 2023 

Vintage needlepoint, vintage clothing, bindis, embroidery floss, beads, and trim; Private collection, Houston, Texas; Courtesy of Roberts Projects, Los Angeles 

sweet surrender, 2021–24

Acrylic, 3D-printed temple yakshi sculptures, embroidery floss, artist’s family heirloom fabric, and trim on fabric; Courtesy of the artist and Roberts Projects, Los Angeles 

Mattai’s work often features doubled figures or body parts. Here, two women, each crowned with golden fringe and adorned with pearls, pose back-to-back, their faces obstructed from the viewer. With henna-adorned hands and Western-style dresses, the mirrored women embody the fragmentation of self that many people from diasporic communities experience. Mattai incorporated heirloom cloth passed down from her family, further rooting the work in themes of home, ancestry, and migration.

Louise Bourgeois

b. 1911, Paris; d. 2010, New York City  

Legs, 1986 (cast 2008)

Polyurethane resin with pigment; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., Gift of Ginny Williams in honor of Olga Viso, Director, 2008 

Mattai cites Bourgeois as one of her heroines, for her experimentation and fearlessness. She notes the “distortion but also tenderness” in this sculpture. Here, the elongated legs hover just above the ground, detached from their body. This fragmentation calls to mind the doubling or recontextualizing of body parts in Mattai’s work. 

Suchitra Mattai 

b. 1973, Georgetown, Guyana

siren song, 2022

Vintage saris, fabric, and digital projection; Courtesy of the artist and Roberts Projects, Los Angeles 

siren song includes a video that Mattai made while retracing her ancestors’ journey across the Indian and Atlantic Oceans from India to Guyana. Her great-grandparents arrived in Guyana as indentured laborers, part of an exploitative system that followed the abolition of slavery in the British Empire and lasted from about 1834 to 1917. Indian workers were offered passage and basic housing in British Caribbean colonies in exchange for demanding physical labor and little compensation. Nearly two million people made this journey; Mattai’s cultural heritage was shaped by it. 

love, labor, and the pursuit of happiness, 2022

Vintage saris, artist’s mother’s sari, ghungroo bells, clothespins, and fabric; Bill and Christy Gautreaux Collection, Kansas City, Missouri 

The title of this work references the United States’ Declaration of Independence, which—in 1776, during an era of slavery and colonialism—asserted life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness as inalienable rights (although they were granted to very few). Mattai plays with phrasing. She offers love instead of life, perhaps a reference to familial love that drives generations forward. In place of liberty, she presents labor, an acknowledgment of those whose forced, unpaid work enabled the freedom of others. 

kala pani (black water), 2023

Gouache, book pages, faux gems, trim, and vintage needlepoint; Private collection, Sausalito, California; Courtesy of Roberts Projects, Los Angeles 

“Kala pani” translates to “black water,” a Hindu metaphor for the taboo of crossing the ocean to go to foreign lands. If a person undertakes this journey, they are believed to corrupt their physical and spiritual connection to their homeland. As someone whose ancestors emigrated from India, and who is an immigrant herself, Mattai reconsiders this myth. Her heroine, wearing a red sari (the color of feminine power) stands tall to confront the sea. Surrounded by shimmering gems, she is both protected from the water and a part of it, appearing courageous and triumphant. 

time again, 2021

Pages from Grand Voyageurs de Notre Siècle, velvet paper, embroidery floss, watercolor, and bindis on paper; On loan from Ramsey Cotter; Courtesy of K Contemporary, Denver 

William Henry Rinehart 

b. 1825, Union Bridge, Maryland; d. 1874, Rome 

Penserosa, ca. 1863

Marble; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Corcoran Collection (Gift of William Wilson Corcoran), 2014.136.264 

Penserosa is based on the allegorical figure of Melancholy in John Milton’s poem “Il Penseroso” (published 1645). The female personification, with her head cast down, shows the melancholic state of mind of the poem’s eponymous narrator, “the thinker.” American artist Hiram Powers created a statue of the same subject and title, also depicted as a woman, in 1856. Much of Mattai’s work considers the representation of female figures in different time periods and cultures, as well as the narratives they perpetuate. 

Suchitra Mattai 

b. 1973, Georgetown, Guyana

double helix, 2022

Acrylic on wood and found relief sculpture; Courtesy of the artist and Roberts Projects, Los Angeles 

double helix includes a fragment of a found relief whose subject wears a Roman-style toga and grasps a small urn, possibly a cinerarium or funeral urn, used to hold the ashes of the dead. Mirroring this figure, Mattai painted a South Asian woman in the same pose, wearing a bright blue sari and holding a red snake, a symbol of rebirth and regeneration.

a shadow, a doubt, 2022

Gouache and vintage book pages on wood cradle board; Courtesy of the artist and Roberts Projects, Los Angeles 

This work depicts Lakshmi, Hindu goddess of wealth, good fortune, and beauty. The deity is traditionally shown wearing a bejeweled gold crown and an ornate red-and-green sari, colors associated with opulence and prosperity. The owl beside her represents patience and wisdom. While depictions of Hindu deities often emphasize their otherworldly qualities, such as extra limbs or special powers, Mattai portrays a more relatable likeness of Lakshmi. Seated, she gazes downward, appearing deep in thought.

Becharam Das Dutta 

Active mid-19th century, Kolkata, West Bengal, India 

Enthroned Goddess with Attendants, ca. 1840–60 

Ink and color on paper; National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Kenneth X. Robbins, S1993.1 

Das Dutta created some of India’s earliest hand-colored lithographs, a medium that became the primary means of producing Hindu devotional images. In this work, a crowned goddess sits atop a cushioned throne, fanned and shaded by her attendants. “I wanted to break down barriers and recontextualize art objects from different eras and cultural contexts,” Mattai says. “Here we are awakening a new spirit in the objects, giving them a new sense of power.” 

Suchitra Mattai 

b. 1973, Georgetown, Guyana

triumph in an age of sadness, 2019  

19th-century print, gouache, acrylic, Hindu comic, and thread; Courtesy of the artist and Roberts Projects, Los Angeles 

Wajid (attributed)

Active late 17th century, Sawar, Rajasthan, India

Saraswati, folio from “A Goddess Series,” ca. 1680–1700

Opaque watercolor and gold on paper; National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Purchase and partial gift from the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection—funds provided by the Friends of the National Museum of Asian Art, S2018.1.40

Saraswati is the Hindu goddess of wisdom, learning, and art—characteristics associated with feminine power. Commonly depicted as a woman dressed in a white sari and seated on a lotus blossom, she holds a string of prayer beads in her left hand and a sacred text in her right. “Saraswati” in Sanscrit translates to “the flowing one.” In the Vedas, the earliest Hindu texts, the goddess embodies a sacred river that once flowed through the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent. This flowing and abundance also relates to creativity, expression, and eloquence.

Unidentified artist

Dates unknown, North India

Women in a Garden, late 18th century

Opaque watercolor, ink, and gold on paper; National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Arthur M. Sackler Collection, Purchase—Smithsonian Unrestricted Trust Funds, Smithsonian Collections Acquisition Program, and Dr. Arthur M. Sackler, S1986.454

Hasan Riza

Active ca. 1700, Bikaner, Rajasthan, India

Princess with Attendants, ca. 1700

Opaque watercolor and gold on paper; National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Arthur M. Sackler Collection, Purchase—Smithsonian Unrestricted Trust Funds, Smithsonian Collections Acquisition Program, and Dr. Arthur M. Sackler, S1986.467  

Mattai takes inspiration from South Asian artistic traditions, including Indian miniature painting. Here, a seated princess is surrounded by female attendants holding instruments and other objects. “There are issues in India of caste and class,” Mattai says. “This watercolor is in a sense about a ruling class and aristocratic class. Presenting my work with it also speaks to power and class.” 

Suchitra Mattai 

b. 1973, Georgetown, Guyana

the joy of unknowing, the peace in belonging, 2023  

Acrylic, gouache, bindis, and faux gems on found vintage print; Private collection, Boston; Courtesy of K Contemporary, Denver 

Mattai invents a fantastical environment where children explore freely and unexpected vegetation appears. Into a wooded landscape, Mattai paints palm trees and tropical orange blooms. The presence of these plants—seemingly non-native—prompts the viewer to wonder what, and who, does belong here? Girls in matching red school uniforms populate the scene with complete comfort; they seem joyful, carefree, and safe. It is only the viewer, as an observer, discomfited by elements that do not appear to “fit” the setting. In this way, Mattai forces us to confront our own preconceptions of history and belonging. 

belonging, 2020

Gouache on found print; On loan from Nick and Jen Mailey; Courtesy of K Contemporary, Denver 

an origin story, 2022 

Saris, fabric, and rope net; Courtesy of the artist and Roberts Projects, Los Angeles

an origin story relates to Mattai’s Indo-Caribbean heritage and her experience as part of a diasporic community. Generations of the artist’s family left India to move to the Americas as indentured laborers. The saris in this work, worn and passed down, form a connection to their homeland. Sewn into curving lines, the saris branch and expand like roots. “These sari pieces become a way of connecting women of the South Asian diaspora over time,” Mattai says. Though separated by time and distance, they are woven together by history. 

Rosalba Carriera

b. 1673, Venice; d. 1757, Venice

America, ca. 1730

Pastel on paper mounted on canvas; National Museum of Women in the Arts; Museum purchase: Funds donated by Wallace and Wilhelmina Holladay 

One of the most successful artists of her time, Carriera is credited with popularizing the use of pastels in serious portraiture. This work is one of a series representing the four continents recognized by the West in the eighteenth century: Europe, Africa, Asia, and America. Relying heavily on stereotypes and misinformation, artists personified each continent as a woman, identifiable by skin color, costume, and accessories. In her own work, Mattai wrestles with the way such imagery originates and persists over time. America was commonly shown in a state of undress, with a feathered hair ornament and quiver of arrows.

Camille Pissarro

b. 1830, Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands; d. 1903, Paris

A Creek in St. Thomas (Virgin Islands), 1856

Oil on academy board; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, 1985.64.29 

Suchitra Mattai 

b. 1973, Georgetown, Guyana

for lush lands and rich sorrows, 2024 

Acrylic, gouache, and pages from The Grammar of Ornament and Saturday Evening Post; Courtesy of the artist and Roberts Projects, Los Angeles 

In her practice, Mattai investigates historical objects and considers their meaning in new contexts. Here, she extracts pages from The Grammar of Ornament (1856), a book by Owen Jones, a British architect and designer who aimed to codify visual motifs from around the globe; she reappropriates them as a backdrop for new figures. The title, referencing “lush lands and rich sorrows” alludes to the historical plunder of natural resources and ideas from Asia, Africa, the Caribbean, and the Middle East.  

the center of gravity, 2022

Vintage saris, artist’s first sari, ghungroo bells, fabric, and boa; On loan from Paul Efstathiou and Hollis Taggart

In this work, Mattai weaves clusters of ghungroo bells—worn on the ankles of classical Indian dancers—into vintage saris. The title refers to the distribution and concentration of weight within a person or object. This point affects balance, rotation, and movement, all imperative to a dancer’s abilities. The title could also refer to a centering of self and identity; Mattai’s own sari is included. “When I incorporate an object or material that’s more intimate,” she says, “I’m honoring my family’s presence, their stories.”  

in her head, 2021

Page from The Grammar of Ornament, 19th-century colonial print, bindis, gouache, and trim on wood; Courtesy of Roseline Michael Neveling 

safe space, 2021

Page from The Grammar of Ornament, 19th-century colonial print, artist’s cousin’s wedding invitation, appliqué, and trim on wood; On loan from Talita Choudhury and Josh Neuman

in the absence of love, 2022 

Acrylic, gouache, oil, fiber, trim, bindis, and 19th-century book pages; Courtesy of the artist and Roberts Projects, Los Angeles 

a moment of rest, 2024

Acrylic, gouache, vintage colonial print, and book page from The Grammar of Ornament; Courtesy of the artist and Roberts Projects, Los Angeles 

“If we are going to find the utopian, equitable space that we all want to live in, that we dream of, we have to completely change what occupies the collective consciousness,” Mattai says. “In order to do so we need a brand-new cast of characters and stories, and a brand-new sense of mythology and folklore.” Mattai often finds figures from old sources—vintage colonial prints and book pages, for example—and recontextualizes them as heroines in stories of her own making. 

a woman we never knew but loved all the same, 2024

Gouache, embroidery floss, bindis, found print, and book page from The Grammar of Ornament; Courtesy of the artist and Roberts Projects, Los Angeles 

time travelers, 2024

Embroidery floss, bindis, beads, vintage saris, appliqué, and cord on found tapestry; Weissman Family Collection

Mattai brings to life connections between the past and present, particularly between colonial history and our current culture. time travelers includes a mix of vintage and new materials sourced from India, Europe, and North America. The central figures, a mother and child, traverse time and geography, as Mattai has darkened their skin tones and highlighted their European-style attire. Clad in bright colors and surrounded by sequined appliqué and sparkling bindis, they stand out against the faded vintage tapestry. Mattai’s approach to history stems from broader influences and narratives.