I think a lot about what binds us all as people from all over the world, time, and space. I believe it is the soil that nurtures, the hand that gets passed on each generation, and the air we continue to collectively breathe. I also believe that this connection through commonalities is integral in blurring all lines between our differences.
I make textiles as I reflect on the ways in which history and memory, invisibility and the effects of politics, space, symbolism, stereotypes, and gazes interact. I look at the body, the environment and objects that surround us every day as vessels of self-reliance and change towards an alternate future, a decolonized world through the act of hand-spinning indigenous cotton and knitting.
However, matter is key, but matter is also emotional. It is tender and it is lingering. The last touch of those who came before me can still be heard, seen, and felt, and will be so, for those after me. ––Shradha Kochhar
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Shradha Kochhar (b. Delhi, India) is an artist and educator based in Brooklyn, New York. Best known for her innovative homespun and handknitted khadi sculptures using Kala cotton, an inherently organic cotton strain indigenous to India. Her work delves into material memory, regeneration, and intergenerational dialogue, researching indigenous cotton varieties in India and the US to explore cotton legacies across time and space. Kochhar’s large-scale sculptures serve as tangible archives of South Asian women's stories, revealing the often-overlooked aspects of invisible labor and collective grief.
Kochhar received her MFA in Textiles from Parsons School of Design, New York. She was awarded the John L. Tishman Environment and Design Award for Excellence in 2021. She is the finalist of the 2022 Dorothy Waxman Textile Excellence Prize and the 2023 Van Lier Fellowship. Her work has been shown at the Melbourne Museum and Houston Center for Contemporary Craft among others. Her work is featured in PAPER magazine, The New York Times, Times of India, British Vogue, Architectural Digest, Vogue, Crafts Magazine, Harper's Bazaar, and others.
