These pieces are large replicas of jewelry that my father had made as a gift for my mother that now lay in the possession of various family members. Custom made and designed in 24 carat gold by my goldsmith cousin living in Punjab, these jewels were my father’s embodiment of his love as well as a fulfillment of Indian tradition that saw gold as an outward expression of wealth and status. My Mother, who grew up in conservative Romania, did not hold these objects with the same weight. With this cultural divide, her and understanding of their significance did not extend to meet those of my fathers. He later sold and gave these pieces away to extended family memebers. His motivation to sell and give them away was wrapped in the shame and rejection he felt from these objects not being worn, and accepted.

Being denied what would’ve been a collection of my very own heirlooms, these objects hold a sentimental weight that is complex. Their absence have prompted me to process some uncomfortable feelings with how they were taken from me, which feed in to a greater feeling of disconnection from my Indian heritage and family. I memorialize these pieces in the forms of large monuments, echoing the gravity of their loss, and embodying the labor required to reforge these connections.