Malini's Canvas

ARTIST BOOK: FROM FAMILIAR TO UNFAMILIAR

“From Familiar to Unfamiliar” is an exploration of the immigrant journey, focusing on my personal story as an international student in an American art school. The book intricately weaves together Hindi and English letterforms to create captivating patterns that serve as visual representations of my thoughts, emotions, and experiences. Structured to unfold like a blossoming flower, the book’s top view reveals a homage to the meaning of my name in Hindi, Malini, meaning “a garden of flowers.”

The installation consists of six books, each representing a semester of my study. Five of these books are bound inwards, symbolizing my attempt to conceal aspects of my experience as an immigrant. The final book features text on the exterior, symbolizing my decision to confront and articulate my challenges openly. This intentional design choice offers a poignant narrative of self-discovery and empowerment amidst the immigrant experience. The book earned the prestigious Design Arts Thesis Award. 

Medium: Digitally printed book, Coptic Stitch Binding; Limited Edition of 7 books; 2005; SOLD OUT

ARTIST BOOK: YOU ARE INVITED

You Are Invited explores the deeply rooted dowry system in India and its dehumanizing impact on women. The book weaves storytelling through poetry, presents statistics on dowry-related violence and deaths, and brings real-life cases of dowry-related deaths to light via QR codes. These dynamic QR codes update every year, ensuring the book evolves with the latest reports and remains a living document of this ongoing issue. Intertwined with all this are my own experiences with dowry and what it did to my self-worth. 

The book is designed to emulate a luxurious wedding invitation of an opulent Indian wedding. The graphics of lush Mughal gardens are also inspired by the graphics of Indian wedding invitations. As the reader lifts the delicate threads binding the book—an act reminiscent of the unveiling of an Indian bride—they are drawn behind the scenes of an Indian wedding.

The book incorporates other elements symbolic of Indian weddings—sarees bound within its pages, Hindu prayer mantras, henna patterns, flower petals resting at the bottom of the box, and a final saree infused with itar (Indian perfume). This multi-sensory approach immerses the reader in the beauty and rituals of an Indian wedding while pulling back the curtain to reveal the harsh realities hidden beneath the surface.

Medium: Digitally and letterpress printed book, Coptic stitch binding with sinew thread; Limited Edition of 25; $1000; 2024-25

ARTIST BOOK: THE FORTUNE TELLER

Through this book, I delve into the deeply ingrained gender biases that permeate India’s culture. Comprising two distinct parts, this work invites viewers to confront societal norms and personal narratives woven together.

The first part introduces The Fortune Teller, a seemingly innocuous childhood game that serves as a portal into the harsh realities of gender inequality in India. Through interaction, viewers are confronted with stark statistics and prompting reflection on systemic biases.

In the second part, I lay bare the depths of my childhood memories, seeking resolution through artistic expression.

Medium: Digitally printed, Japanese stab bound book, 2016; Limited edition of 30; SOLD OUT

ARTIST BOOK: THE STORY OF O

This book is a contemporary, typographic exploration of the book “The Story of O.” It is printed on translucent paper with subsequent pages and its content visible, inviting the viewer. The shape of the letter O in its various iterations: serif, sans-serif, regular, bold, script, upper and lowercase along with the color and feel of the paper accentuate the sensuousness of the book.

Medium: Digitally printed artist book, hand bound (Japanese stab binding); Limited Edition of 10; 2007 SOLD OUT

ARTIST BOOK: UNFOLDING PATTERNS OF ATROCITIES

UNFOLDING PATTERNS OF ATROCITIES explores the genocide that was “unfolding” in Darfur in 2007. It is letterpress printed with handset type and illustrations printed from polymer plates. The cut-up poem was composed by me from Nicholas Kristof ’s coverage of the genocide in The New York Times. The blind embossed illustrations were hand drawn from photographs of a Die-in performance staged in conjunction with this project at Oregon College of Arts and Craft. (A Die-in performance is a form of protest where the participants simulate being dead.) The line drawings at the bottom of each page connect to form the map of Sudan, the epicenter of the Genocide.

Medium: Handset letterpress printed; Limited Edition of 10 books; 2007

EXPERIMENTS WITH BOOKS