When ordinary becomes sacral

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​Empty blister packs stitched and weaved together

226 x 148 cm 

2025

 

When taking pills, the everyday hope of better health is like ritualistically connecting your mortal body to a divine force that will, despite being entirely invisible, grant you your wish. Indeed, each punctured pocket of a pharmaceutical blister pack is inhabited by a prayer for protection. The empty space generated by medication regimes represents both a personal story and a psychological act of faith. 

In ‘When ordinary becomes sacral’, I explored the deep symbolic and spiritual significance of weaving and stitching. In traditional Hindu life these ancient making processes represent the interconnectedness of life, the cosmos, and devotion. Drawing upon methods handed down to me by my mother, I have utilised connecting and entwining procedures to give the empty packaging values associated with storytelling and ritual.

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When I do this, I believe empty medical packaging ceases to be ordinary. It feels too significant to throw away. It takes on numinous qualities that counter its future status as landfill. Accordingly, my new work uses a traditional Hindu making skill to arouse ecological concerns for the 300 million tonnes of packaging waste the pharmaceutical industries produce every year.