Rasa: a collaboration
Vandana Jain & Mike Estabrook
a series of 8 hybrid works bringing together weaving and painting
2023-24

Rāsa is a sanskrit work meaning “essence” or “flavor”. It is an ancient concept in Indian easthetic theory, seen as a way to pinpoint the indescribable feelings created in the viewer when experiencing a work. There are several different schools of rāsa, but all use a system of colors that correspond with emotions.

I wanted to explore this specific relationship of emotion to color through weaving. Coincidentally, my partner Mike Estabrook, was also using randomizing color-based systems in his work, so we decided to combine our efforts to create series of 9 works based on the system listed in the Nātyasātra.

Our process began with a discussion of the psychological and social themes outlined in each color of the Rasa system. Together, we came up with an strategy and Mike would make a painting. Then I would take the canvas, cut it apart into strips, and weave them together into a new textile.

As a weaver, I was curious how weaving could transcend its traditional role as a substrate for painting to become a structural part of the work. And Mike was game in letting his paintings become a material, to see how the images would be transformed by the process of being cut apart and brought back together. Through these nine experiments, we continually found a way to destroy an image only to recreate it again.