BRATTLEBORO — The Brattleboro Museum & Art Center will present a free artist talk by Gowri Savoor on Thursday, May 17, at 7 p.m. Savoor will discuss her installation, “We Walk in Their Shadows,” on view at BMAC through June 17.
Gowri Savoor is an artist of British-Indian descent currently living and working in Vermont. Her work is wide-ranging and involves many different materials and processes, including sculpture, site-specific installation, 3D printing, drawing, and painting.
Her sculptures frequently incorporate natural objects, such as seeds, seed pods, and wood, often juxtaposed with steel or other manufactured materials. Savoor also practices and teaches workshops in the ancient Indian ephemeral art of Rangoli. She is well known for her lantern celebrations and other community-based art projects.
In her installation at BMAC, Savoor explores the theme of human migration, drawing from her own experience as a first-generation immigrant.
“Cultural dislocation, loss of language, and the quest for home are all common with the first generation's experience,” Savoor says in a news release. “[My work] speaks to our search for a sense of belonging - for a land that is safe, at peace, and free of judgment."
Gowri Savoor's presence in Southern Vermont this spring extends beyond her installation at BMAC and includes a teaching residency in local schools and a community lantern paddle at the Retreat Meadows on May 25.
These activities are part of The Confluence Project, an experiment in creative placemaking spearheaded by Vermont Performance Lab, Windham Regional Commission, and the Green River Watershed Alliance. For more information, visit vermontperformancelab.org/confluence.