King’s Court, 2025

This hand-painted work features paisley motifs inspired by the Charbagh gardens of Mughal architecture, examining how ornamental and architectural forms move across cultures and geographies until their origins become difficult to locate. Although historians and archaeologists often trace the paisley motif to Central or South Asia, the form has since circulated globally, detached from any singular cultural source. Likewise, the Charbagh garden plan, historically associated with Persian and Mughal landscapes, has been widely adapted within French, English, and American garden traditions.

Engaging with Michel Foucault’s critique of fixed or pure origins, the painting resists singular ancestral attribution and instead emphasizes the instability and fluidity of meaning. The paisley motif may evoke different associations depending on the viewer’s cultural and historical perspective: a Texas rancher may recognize it as a common motif on a bandana, a South Asian viewer through henna and textile traditions, while a European viewer may connect it to the visual language of 1960s psychedelia. Through these shifting interpretations, the work considers how perception is shaped by experience, suggesting that certain visual forms exceed any one heritage or national identity.