25, Fine ArtsCentral to Talia Ramkilawan’s practice is rug hooking, a slow, accumulative process with which she creates her “tapestry adjacent” wall pieces. Her more recent preoccupations include platonic intimacy as expressed in text (the words of friends spoken or sent). “My work is about forging a sense of community and healing particular to the post-apartheid generation,” she offers. “It deals with subverting the image of family trauma by healing through making and by creating a presence. I have placed an emphasis on community and the ‘Indian experience’ – which is so important in cultural and art production – disrupting the linear narrative, exposing how traumas of the past resonate in the present. My inspiration comes from my own family dynamics and my own specific experience with South Asian identity, culture, and trauma." Talia is an artist and teacher living and working in Cape Town. Artist Alliance Documentary Meet Talia Ramkilawan. Talia is a high school art teacher and artist who describes herself as a "tapestry adjacent artist." Talia's creative practice began with an emphasis on community and holding space for South Asian artists; however, this has changed to depicting morecontemporary scenes focused on moments of intimacy. Underlying Talia's work is the idea that being disruptive does not always have to be loud. As part of V&A Waterfront's Artist Alliance,Talia is excited about intuitively bringing together different artists and breaking down the perceptions of what art traditionally is. Artist Alliance Creation Flowers are very symbolic to me. Growing up, flowers were a gift of love, of friendship, of mourning. As an adult flower are still as special. I love receiving flowers, I love giving flowers. As community is important to me, so is the notion of hope and healing. And as flowers come to bloom there is hope. There is a sense of empowerment. This disruption is delicate yet strong and resilient.
