Identity Craft that leads to Rasa
The theme of identity is at the center of my reflections and research. It has been a lifelong study, one rooted in my own history that is constantly evolving with new questions and a changing perspective. I consider identity to be the multifaceted whole of our being, made up of experiences, memory and emotions that change and evolve over time. My research rests on the territory of the Self, where craftsmanship is the communicative soul of man’s interiority, or that of his identity.
I define Identity Craft, therefore, as an instrument to explore and represent identity, which becomes both tangible and symbolic in objects. This outcome is possible after a phase of listening which I undertake with my client in which I translate their identity into a material (non-virtual) object. I call this object an Identity Craft Object, a live container of identity through which we enter into a relationship with ourselves. This relationship makes room for us to have a profound personal dialogue.
In this process, both objects and spaces become a bridge to the narrative of identity where it’s possible to truly recognize oneself. Borrowing from Indian aesthetics, this allows us to live the experience which I call Rasa.
Rasa from Sanskrit, translated as “juice” is an emotional experience that comes from an aesthetic experience. This experience leads to a feeling, a movement within the soul, creating an emotion that can both elevate and liberate us.
I would like to evoke this feeling in daily life through the Identity Craft Objects. In this way the emotion can be contemplated aesthetically through Rasa so the person comes to savor, even just for a moment, the true essence of their Self.
In conclusion, through the process of creating Identity Craft Objects, I would like to create the possibility for us to truly inhabit both our living spaces and ourselves.